The Clone Wars Through a Survivor
by Irish Ghost
Summary: His name is Anakin. Her name was Suri. Mother and son, they must both face the repercussions of the Clone Wars. She was a soldier, he was a mercenary. Both must face the darkness before facing the life that was meant to be lived. Will they be able to?
1. Their Beginning

My name is Anakin, Anakin Organa. I was born on the planet of Tatooine in the Outer Rim. The twin suns shine sixteen hours of the day, scorching everything in its sight. There is little enough water produced from the cooling condensers to drink, but the shade of the homestead is often more refreshing than lukewarm drinks. It is here that I live with my mother.

Suri Organa, my mother, has had many titles over her life. Once, it was daughter to an Old Republic Senator. Later, it was captain of the Imperial Army under the Emperor Palpatine and close confidante to the Lord Vader. In the later stages of her life, it was Healer and mother. She preferred to stay in the present, deigning not to dwell on the past; according to her, it was painful for her to remember the horrible acts she had done in the name of the Empire.

The only source that I had to peer into her history was the holographic memoirs that she had written during her service, telling of her actions and deeds. Without her knowing, I smuggled the data pad out of her room while she was sleeping and hid it underneath my mattress. Through her life, maybe I can find meaning in my own.

* * *

_My life has been one of terror, of fear, and of hope. My memory is photographical, but I wish that it would dull over time. I have committed numerous atrocities in the name of the one who befriended me in a time of dire straits. Maybe one day that debt will be repaid; until then, I will follow him to the end of the galaxy and onwards, waiting to fulfill the payment._

_I was never always this serious. Once, I was carefree; I wanted nothing more than to be a fighter pilot. I wanted to serve my planet to the best of my abilities, to be able to save that I was part of the Clone Wars and that I helped to end them. I wonder now what would have happened instead if I followed my mother's will._

_When I was seventeen, I began to seek out ways to make my innermost wish come true. That was the impossibility of my station; growing up the only child of Bail Organa, Senator of Alderaan definitely had its set of limitations. In my younger years, all that a noblewoman on Alderaan was expected to do was look after the house, take care of the family, and look their most beautiful at all times. __When I was even still a young girl, I daydreamed of flying among the stars, while others around talked about the latest fashion statements, cosmetic techniques, and hair styles. I knew that I was different from the others; I always yearned for more. But the Starship Academy wouldn't accept people below the age of seventeen, and so I forced myself to wait._

_On a late afternoon a long time ago, I reclined on the banister outside of my sleeping quarters against one of the massive marble columns that our residence was made of; I swung my leg over the balustrade, watching the sunset sink down below the horizon. My mother, Breha Organa, came up to me, her silken slippers making little noise against the floor. She tapped me on the shoulder, asking me a question that would brighten my day exponentially._

_"Suri, what is this?" I turned around at the sound of her willow-soft voice. She held out a holo-transmitter of a letter. I reached out and took it from her hands. Reading over it quickly, I realized that this was the answer to my prayers. Earlier in the year, I had sent in an application to the Starship Academy; I had waited patiently for an answer. In my hands was a letter of acceptance to the Academy. This meant that I was now eligible to come to the Academy within the next five months._

_"Suri, what is this?" My mother repeated her question, this time with more bite in her voice._

_"It's a reply to a letter I wrote earlier this year. So what?"_

_"So what? This is addressed from the Starship Academy. You were not trying to apply there, were you?" Mother's amber coloured eyes shone with unknown recesses of anger._

_"Yes, I did. I've always wanted to be a fighter pilot, you know that. In the market three months ago, a recruiter came by to talk to me and gave me an application form. Now I've been accepted to the Starship Academy, starting in three months._

_"The recruiter was impressed with the qualities that I programmed in the holo-disk. Calm under pressure; not easily distracted from the present; obeys orders quickly and efficiently; can handle stress well; lithe, vigorous, nimble, and athletic; has a higher level of education; not married. They want these in trainee pilots." I stood up off the balcony and stared my mother in the eyes._

_Without stopping, I continued. "If you read further, Mother, you will find that they also believe that my oddities will benefit me as a trainee pilot. I can pick up the quietest of sounds and details from great distances. My heightened senses can pick up even the slightest of feelings. I am ambidextrous, both in writing and in fighting. Plus, I'm muscled. In their eyes, I'm a perfect candidate for a trainee pilot."_

_She came forward and slapped me across the face. The burning handprint against my face only served to focus my anger. "You dare to do this without my approval?! You dare demand my consent for you to perform this lifestyle without my approval?! No daughter of mine, no daughter of Alderaan is going to be a fighter pilot!"_

_"Your approval? I don't need your approval to do anything anymore! I'm fourteen years old, Mother! I'm not a child!"_

_"You're my child! Besides," she said, calming down. "I have other plans for you. You are going to marry young Marcus Gegvanus, of a high standing merchant family. He has told me that he finds all of you attractive: your darkly tanned skin, your slender figure, your almond-shaped eyes that can change colour depending on your mood, your perfect white teeth, your small elfin ears, your hair that shines with the color of chestnuts. __The only wish that he has in order to make the contract complete is that you are to stop being so rebellious and headstrong, but that can be easily arranged." A foxy grin split her face; I could only imagine what she wanted to do to me to break me into the mould of the exemplar Alderaan bride._

_"No! I'm not marrying an overly pompous sweaty little toad!" With that, I tore the transmitter from her hand and ran back into my room, locking the door behind me._

_Away in the privacy of my room, I began to calm down from my outburst on the balcony. When I had finally relaxed, I began to get ready to leave home and go to the Academy. Nothing Mother could say would stop me from fulfilling my dreams. __I took off my rich clothing and donned white pants, a tight white breast band, and a loose white short-sleeved tunic under a loose white jacket. All of my rich trinkets, I carefully took off and placed back into my jewellery box. I removed my richly decorated slippers in favour for plain leather sandals. I took my chestnut brown hair from its golden and jewelled coronet, and braided it tightly down my back._

_When I was done that, I pulled out a cloth shoulder bag from under my bed and began to pack. Into the satchel, went most of my belongings: a small hygienic kit; my data pad about the galactic star systems; the amber hilted knife which I had "borrowed" from one of my friends; two leather pouches of water capsules and nutrient tablets; some Republic credits. I also packed in some of my favourite pieces of small jewellery, and my sketch book and my dry paint sticks; it was an indulgence of ancient hobbies, but I had a knack for drawing portraits of people and plants. After I was finished packing, I went to talk to Father._

_Bail Organa, my father, was hardly at home, being a Senator of the Galactic Alliance. On this day, he was at his desk, working on a report that summarized a recent demographical census of the Alderaan population. I entered his office without making a sound, dropping my satchel outside the doorway. In his own way of acknowledging me, he looked up and saw me waiting by his door. He finished writing the report, placed his writing utensil on the papers at the top of his desk, and waited for me to speak, as was his way._

_"I'm going to the Starship Academy, Papa," I told him determinedly, without any form of introduction or reason to explain my unannounced visit. I grasped my wrists behind my back and stood with my feet at shoulder's width, looking at him straight in the eyes._

_"Is this what you want to do with your life, Suri?" he asked me back. He rose from his desk, and began to walk towards the window at the far wall. He ran his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. I was surprised; I thought that he would begin another tirade about the propriety of women in his family and the standing of women in Alderaan society, just like what Mother had done earlier. Father knew that I had been thoroughly educated. I considered this to be another part of my education._

_"Papa, this is what I have always wanted. This is all I have ever wanted since I was a child on your knees. You know this." I replied quietly. I approached him and knelt onto one knee at his feet. Gazing down at the black and white marbled floor, I hoped that Father would understand my lifelong dreams._

_"Then you can go, with my blessing," Father decided. He stopped pacing in front of me, and lifted up my chin so that he could see my reaction at the news._

_I lifted my head with Father's hand to guide me, sheer delight making my skin glow. My breathing quickened and my chest began to swell with happiness. Before I could stand up, Papa placed his hand on the top of my head and intoned the traditional blessing when a father lets go of his eldest child into society and the galaxy. His blessing was brief; inside of my heart, I knew that the one thing that I would truly miss from Alderaan was my father._

_"I will make you proud, Father. I promise," I assured him. I stood up and gave him a tight hug before I left._

_Outside of Father's office, I grabbed the satchel of my things, and made for the entrance of the palace. I walked outside of the ornate fortress and started down the path that took me from my home of my seventeen years._

_Tears shimmered on my eyes; I could not make myself look back at my home. I felt kind of afraid. But as I approached the local spaceport, I swallowed my fear. I purchased a charter ticket to the Academy, and boarded my flight. __It was going to be a cold and dank ninety-six hour journey to the Starship Academy from Alderaan, since this charter cruiser had no hyper-drive generator to speed up our journey. I found a one-man cell with nobody in it, and made myself comfortable. I pulled out my data pad, and began to read the monotonous list of planets and star systems while nibbling on some of the nutrient tablets that I packed._

_I soon felt myself becoming drowsy, so I placed the tablets and data pad back in my satchel, and put my head on the bench for a light nap. Unbeknownst to me, my adventure was just about to begin…_


	2. His Trip

She was seventeen when she left her home. Maybe there were more similarities left to be discovered in her words. Not knowing it at the time, but I was sixteen when events beyond my control would be set into motion to change my life forever.

It was a normal day, like any other day so far. I was walking home late from work; Drago was being incredibly particular about the way that I was to repair things today, since there was an upcoming Podrace. This was the time of year when he would make the most money on selling parts, and on my repairing abilities. He set tests for me all day, testing my ability to think on my feet and to make sure that my repair jobs were able to run afterwards. As if my repairing techniques were not good enough; I had been doing this since I was eight years old. Every day, I would bring home at least fifty credits from the day's work: enough to buy groceries for the next two days, or Mom's medicine.

Our homestead was simple, bordering the smuggler city of Mos Eisley. There was a main room, two bedrooms, and a kitchen. Nonetheless, it was home; this was the place where I had grown up in since I was born. Mom moved here when she discovered that she was pregnant with me, ending her forays as a travelling galactic Healer. It was small, but to me, it was perfect.

Unbeknownst to me, Mom was waiting for me just inside the door; she waited until I had placed down my tool kit to speak up. "Anakin," her voice was still raspy. I started as she spoke behind my shoulder. The medicine that the doctors had given her was working effectively enough for me to go back to the shop, but not enough for her to be walking about the home.

"Mom," I did not realize that she was there. "What are you doing up? You should still be in bed." I went to place my arms under her shoulders to help her back into bed, but she resisted my efforts.

"Stop that. Anakin, I need you to do a favour for me." She swatted away my hand with her cybernetic one. Her face, slightly wrinkled from the disease that ravaged her, was set in determination. Her eyes, normally dark blue or light grey, were pitch black. I had never seen my mother's eyes go black before ever.

"Sure." I was unsure about what Mom was getting at.

"I need you to change into your black clothes for me. Then meet me outside, by the ship." She leaned over to cough; out of reflex, I gently slapped her back, trying to get her to cough up whatever was bothering her. Once she stopped, I headed up to my room.

This was my paradise. My bed was roughly made, since I did not have time that morning to make it and be on time for work. Across the room was a work bench; unfinished tinkering projects were just strewed across it all mish-mash. Still, I splashed water on my face, and got changed into the clothes that Mom had specified: a tunic and pants, black and made of a light material. Now, normally it was impossible for me to wear these; they would never protect from the nigh-constant sandstorms and the never-ending blaze from the suns. So, I didn't know what my mother had in store.

Feeling that this was going to be a long journey, I reached under my bed for her holographic memoirs, placing it underneath my tunic in a hidden pocket. Reading them allowed me to understand who my mother really was, or at least who she was before the Imperial Army claimed her allegiance and soul. She never spoke of it, refusing to answer any of my questions. It took a long time for her to become that what she once was after the Empire fell sixteen years ago; I was going to try my best to make sure that nothing brought her back to that brink of emotional despair.

Once I was ready, I walked up to the ship; leaning against the side of our ship, Mom was dressed in a similar fashion. I lifted her into the ship, strapping her in place before I got myself settled into the pilot's seat.

"Alright, Mom… Where do you need to go?" I looked over my shoulder. Mom was caressing her old weapons kit that lay on her lap.

"Mustafar. The planet of Mustafar." Something hinted the tone of her voice; was it remembrance, or could it be regret?" I did not know where it was, so I typed it into the navigations system, and placed it on auto-pilot.

She fell asleep one hour into the trip; I could hear her gently snoring behind me. Looking at the monitors in front of me, I saw that we still had five and a half hours left in the journey. Knowing that the computer had it all under control, I pulled out the memoirs and continued to read.


	3. Her Torture

_About twenty-five hours in the journey to the Academy, the pilot made an announcement. "Passengers," his voice rang over the intercom. "We are being hailed by a Separatist boarding party, commanding that they be allowed to board. I cannot say no; we have no weapons on board this ship. Please, remain calm. It will all be over in a few minutes." With that done, the pilot began the boarding protocols._

_Looking out the window, I saw that, indeed, a Separatist battle ship was boarding with the cruiser. There was a mighty hiss as the side doors opened when the airlock was completed. Out from the ship, came ten Super Battledroids, their guns at the ready. The droids began to look over the majority of the passengers; they took ten of them, apparently at random. One of those passengers happened to be me._

_The Battledroid opened up my door. "Get out," it pointed its gun straight at my head. Without taking my eyes off of it, I slowly picked up my satchel and walked out into the ship's main room with the rest of the chosen ones._

_When we were all assembled, the same droid that had chosen me spoke again. "You are now prisoners of the Separatist Army, under charge for treasonous activities. We will board with the command ship in five days, and then your fate will be decided." With that, we were hassled on to the battleship and thrown into separate containment cells. I didn't fight them: first of all, they were armed and I was not, and secondly, i had no idea of the consequences to me or to the others if I did._

_"Welcome," a voice rang out from the shadows. I turned around from the door. From out of the shadows walked a Bothan bounty hunter. He grabbed my satchel and tossed it into the corner. I grew very frightened. These creatures were known for the precision of their work, and the lack of mercy at the sign of weakness. His orange whiskery face was decorated with a malicious grin. He held an electro-whip in one hand and a vibro-shiv concealed in its sheath was at his side._

_My hands and my feet were secured in magna locks so that I was suspended eagle-spread off the ground. When the Bothan was convinced that I was sufficiently secured, the torture began. He did not stop to remove my shirt before he whipped my back. That first initial hit rang pain throughout my body. I could feel the burns around each whip. __After about one and a half hours of lashes, he tossed down the whip, and drew out the vibro-shiv. He sunk it into my arms and legs, and slowly drew straight horizontal line. After what felt like three hours of this kind of pain, he stopped for the day._

_The vibro-shiv hurt more that it should have. Instead of a simple slice, it was more like running fire and ice simultaneously around my limbs. When I first gasped at the pain, the Bothan stopped. "I was given this blade especially for you. It's soaked in a rare poison: it should cause you to scar quickly and permanently." Every time he ran the blade on my limbs, I hissed at the stinging poison, giving the Bothan some kind of insane satisfaction._

_At night, I was unchained only at my wrists, so I fell to the floor in a pool of my own blood. My only hope was to reach for the blankets in the corner of the cell, to try and get some sleep, but the next day began too soon. It began when the Bothan kicked my back where he had whipped the day before, opening some of the clots. He lifted me up to the locks, and hung me up again for the next bout of excruciating pain._

_The Bothan kept taunting me while he tortured me, but I did not lash out against the insults. I kept my personal effects close to the blankets, so that when I fell to the floor it was within my grasp. All that I felt I could do was to scream through the pain during the day, and cry through it at night. If I lashed out or fought back against it, then I feared that my will and my mind would be at the mercy of this Bothan bounty hunter. I knew that a better fate than that awaited me when we reached the_ Invisible Hand_, flagship of the Separatists and home to the infamous Captain Grievous._

_On the fourth day of my torture, I finally broke down. I just couldn't take it anymore, just couldn't take this without a reason. "Stop this! Please!" I cried while he was whipping my back. Believe or not, he actually stopped. "Why are you doing this to me?" The tears began to roll down from my eyes and onto my dirtied and tear-streaked face. I could not look the Bothan in the face; I could not make myself believe that someone could inflict so much pain on another and feel happy about it._

_The Bothan laid his whip down at his side, and he began to stroke his whiskery goatee. "I have my orders, young one. I am to torture you either until you die, or until we reach the_ Invisible Hand_. That's enough for today, anyway." His eyes seemed almost to pity me, almost. With that, he unchained my wrists and locked the cell door behind him. I just laid there on the floor, crying my eyes out. The tears falling from my black eyes mingled with the blood shed from my broken body. At last, I fell in a fitful sleep, curling myself into a ball in the midst of the bloodstained blankets._

_On the fifth day of my torture, during the whipping, the Bothan abruptly stopped his work, unchaining my wrists and leaving the cell, but not before locking it securely behind him. From the thunderous noises, I knew that we were finally docking with the_ Invisible Hand_, but I did not care. I was so tired that words could not even describe it. I reached for my satchel, and managed to wrap the strap around my wrist._

_The torture had transformed me from a refined noblewoman of Alderaan descent, to a broken teenager about to die before getting the chance to live out the rest of her life. My arms and legs were adorned with deep lacerations from the vibro-shiv. My forearms were mottled with black, blue, and purple bruises from the unrelenting grip of my torture master. My right arm was really pale and cold from lack of blood; there was an especially deep laceration following the course of the major veins that was roughly bandaged, allowing me to slowly bleed out over the course of three days. The deep crimson blood was drying on my arm, but it was continually flowing. My stomach was drawn in, and my ribs showed through my skin from lack of food. My back burned with avulsions caused by the electro-whip. My eyes were glassed over from a fever that I had developed from lack of water; they were bruised red-purple from a punch that the Bothan had doled out to me. My pristine white clothes were torn from the whip and the vibro-shiv, and they were dyed copper from the dried blood._

_Suddenly, the window of my cell opened up, spraying light over my broken body. The lock to the door unlatched and the door to my cell opened, hissing from the airlock. I looked up, and saw a bright blue light and a vague outline of a man clothed in black. I could not tell whom it was from the tears welling up in my eyes. I think that I croaked an inaudible "thank-you". Then all went black, as my head fell to the floor and I passed out…_


	4. His Pain

My mother was tortured? I saw the marks on her back as I bathed her, but I never considered the fact that she was tortured. I always thought that it was an accident of sorts. She never told me anything except that she had to atone for her crimes. Maybe this was her atonement, to face the torture that she had given others. It was only reversed, so it made no sense to her.

The auto-pilot began to beep, startling me from my reverie. We were ten minutes from our destination. I turned behind me and shook Mom gently; she startled, wrapping her hands around her weapons kit.

"Mom, we're here." I just turned around and set the ship up for landing protocols.

When we landed, Mom fell out of the ship while trying to get out on her own. I grabbed hold of her. "Lean on my shoulder, Mom." When she settled her weight, she began to walk forward. I just followed her. We walked a distance from the ship, to a valley of volcanic rock and ash. The hot ash burnt the soles of my bare feet; I grimaced in pain, but I did not complain. Mom would not have brought me without a reason, but she chose not to disclose that reason with me. All that Mom told me was that she wanted to lie down close to the edge of the valley, where the thick waves of white-red lava licked the shoreline.

I placed her gently on the ground; I thought that maybe she wanted to warm up. I knelt beside her, making sure to cradle her head on my shoulder. I began to weep too; I never saw my mother cry before and it frightened me.

"A… Anakin?" With obvious effort, she pulled her weapons kit closer to her from where it had fallen on the ground.

"Mom?" She had never let me touch that before. Now she was giving it to me? Something was very wrong.

She lowered herself to the ground, grabbing my tunic in her fists and bringing me closer to her. "Never give in to anyone. Understand that you are my son, and I love you." She ran her cybernetic finger against the weird birthmark on my face; it was shaped like a sliver and it ran through my eye. The mucus lining her throat made her choke and cough, so I slapped her back to try and clear her throat.

She suddenly stopped moving; her chest gave a final heave before it gave up. My mother, the rock of my life, was gone. I was overcome with grief; words could not begin to describe it. I began to sob into my mom's shoulder, now deathly cold despite the immense heat around us. Rocking on my knees, I screamed with the pain of a grieving son, his dead mother in his arms. I was now alone in this unforgiving, unrelenting galaxy.

When I finished crying, it was with a heavy heart that I lifted her into the seat behind me. To last the trip to Tatooine, I placed the interior heating on minimum. She seemed so relaxed, so at peace. The quiet rest of death suited her. Before I covered her lifeless body with a black sheet, I kissed my mom one last time on the forehead.

Walking back to the place where she died, I picked up her weapons kit where her numb fingers had dropped it. Close to the kit, I found a large flat rock. I turned it over; I reached inside the kit for the dagger and began to carve on it for her, an epitaph. When I was finished, it read:

"Here Lies Suri Organa,  
A Loving Mother  
And a Kind Woman

"She Lived Through Both  
The Clone Wars and  
The Reign of the Empire  
She Will Never Be Forgotten…"

I walked back to the ship by myself, never once looking back. Once inside the cool airlock of the remodelled fighter, I gazed at my weapons. Mom never taught me to use these in self-defence, but the few friends that I gathered in Mos Eisley never regretted teaching me to use a switchblade in a tight fight. I brushed my fingers over the gems and gold; the oak had never splintered, had never worn.

I programmed my ship back to Tatooine, only this time I was by myself. It was much colder, much quieter. I went to reach to her memoirs, to find out some more about my mother's mysterious past. Extracting the memoirs from underneath my seat, I found the place I last left off at and continued to read.


	5. Her Recovery

_I felt so tired. My eyes felt like iron weights, but they tried to open up. My senses were slowly returning to me, but they were sluggish, like trying to run through the boggy marshes of Dagobah. I slowly woke up to find myself in a new set of foreign surroundings. My eyes fluttered open and my vision focused as they took in my new surroundings._

_I was alone in a pale green room, lying on a sleep mat that was elevated about three feet off the ground. A dark window was in the centre of the far wall, about at eye level if I stood up. An airlock door was beside the window. A computer monitor above my head was displaying my pulse rate, blood pressure, and cardiac rhythms sent from a set of wires attached to my right arm and chest. There was a medication drip that entered my body from a site on top of my left hand. An oxygen mask covered my nose and my mouth. My hair had been shorn off to downy stubble. __I still wore my white pants, dyed copper from my torture. A coarse blanket was folded underneath my feet, to elevate them off of the ground. Without any shirt or jacket to cover my body, I noticed that my back, torso, and upper arms were bandaged; it felt so bulky when I tried to lift my arm. Under the bandages on my torso, I felt that there was a tight binding of leather, probably to preserve what was left of my modesty._

_"How feel you, young one?" I heard a croaky voice coming from the other side of the small room. I lifted my head to see who it was. __To my surprise, a small green troll about the height of my knees was floating on a hover mat and talking to me. I felt a strong and pulsating aura radiating from this grinning troll-like creature. It felt almost relaxing, yet stimulating at the same time. I had a gut feeling that this must have been the fabled Jedi Master Yoda._

_My eyes turned from a painful vivid bright blue to a relaxing stormy blue-grey. "I don't know, Master," I replied. I felt very groggy from my sleep; I had probably been given some sort of sedation or painkiller, because I could no longer feel the pain as I had before. However, the medication left me feeling like an enormous weight was on my body, restraining me and keeping me down to the mat._

_"Ah. Know me, you do," he croaked. A smile crept onto his wise wrinkled face. "What is name, child?"_

_"My name is Suri Organa, of Alderaan," I said, as I managed to sit up, forcing my back against the wall. I removed the oxygen mask from my face, noticing that my left hand was covered in abrasions and contusions, probably from my struggle with the manacles. "How did I get here?"_

_"Not me, is the one should you be asking. Here is your rescuer."_

_A tall man, probably about 25, entered the room. The first thing that I noticed was that a black leather guard covered his right arm. He wore a dark brown hooded cloak, over a leather over-tunic and dark tunic. The bottoms of his chestnut brown pants were tucked into black leather knee-high boots. Around his waist was a fully stocked black leather and metal utility belt. A lightsaber, the weapon of a Jedi, hung still at his side, in a position for an easy and quick retrieval. His wavy light chestnut hair was cut to frame his face, and it looked very handsome on him. He had dark icy blue eyes that looked as though they could pierce my soul. His right eye had a long scar running almost through it, adding to his intense intimidation. I realized that this must have been the vague figure that opened the door to my cell._

_"Sir, how did I get here?" I asked him._

_"My Master and I found your ship covertly docked with the_ Invisible Hand_, after we confirmed rumours that the Separatists were keeping political prisoners. We slipped on onboard, and looked at most of the prisoners through the windows. We discovered that all but you were dead. Even still, you were near enough to death yourself. I managed to open the door and disabled the magna locks. Then, I carried you on my back to the nearby Republic Battalion cruiser which was returning to Coruscant. The safest place to come to was back to the Temple." This man had a deep baritone voice, which entranced me so easily._

_Another man entered the room. This dark-skinned, bald man wore similar garb to the first guest. "This is Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. He was the one who brought you here," he said, standing next to Anakin. "I am Mace Windu, a Jedi Master. You will be safe here." Unlike Master Yoda, Master Windu seemed more cautious of me, more suspicious of what had happened to me._

_"Where is here?" I asked of the Jedi Master._

_"You are in the Jedi Temple, currently in one of the observation rooms of the medical centre. The healers have informed me that you have been unconscious for nearly two weeks. Your wounds were extensive, but they did their best. Your right forearm, however, was so extensively damaged, that they had no choice but to give you a cybernetic replacement."_

_As soon as he mentioned it, I looked at my right arm. It was a mass of wires and cold metals from the elbow down. When I tried to flex what used to be my fingers, five transperisteel rods with miniscule hinges for my new knuckles locked into place; they were surrounded with plastics to mould into fingers, but it could not conceal the wiring underneath its surface. I could not move the wrist or fingers of my arm easily, let alone make a fist. It felt so foreign to have something like that on your forearm; it felt too heavy, too foreign. __Tears welled in my eyes, but I wiped them away before they rebelliously fell down my face. Beside the sleep mat was a black guard for my forearm. I slipped it over the mechanics, so that I didn' t have to look at it._

_I looked over the other arm as well. There were indentations from the locks on my wrists, and the lacerations were professionally bandaged from the elbow up; the blood from the wounds had already seeped through the bandages. The lacerations below the elbow were already beginning to scar over and didn't have any bandages. Around my wrist and hand were deep purple and blue bruises._

_"We must leave now." Mace Windu spoke while I was inspecting the condition of my arms. "Suri, I need you to see the Jedi Council for some questions as soon as possible." With that, the three Jedi left the room, leaving me to get ready in peace._

_Once I was sure that the Jedi warriors were gone, I stood up stiffly from the sleep mat and slipped into the loose black jacket and loose black pants that were folded beside the mat. I purposely left the jacket untied, so that everyone could see the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around my torso. After I was finished dressing, I walked over to the window to try and see some reflection of my face. The bruises were still there, but there were some abrasions on my cheeks and nose. I left this stifling room as soon as possible, walking slowly so to get my muscles moving again from my period of stiffness._


	6. His Question

Anakin… could this be who I was named for? Mom only told me that I reminded her of her best friend and mentor in every way; it was only fitting that I should bear his name. Was this the man she was talking about?

Thinking about it, I've always had strange abilities that I have hidden from everyone, even my mother. I could control what people think with a flick of my wrist. I could summon objects to my hands just by thinking about it. Were these the signs of a Jedi? Mulling the new thought, I continued to read further.


	7. Her New Home

_I eventually found my way to the Council Room, located in the topmost room of one of the four towers. Anakin was waiting outside of the doors; he winked at me as I walked closer, trying to alleviate my nervousness. I was about to knock on the door when it slid open of its own accord. Mace Windu motioned me to stand in the middle of the room. I felt incredibly nervous walking into the centre of the room, simply being in the presence of all of these powerful beings. I felt sweat roll down the arches of my feet and palm of my hand. I did not know any better, so I bowed to the Masters around me. This seemed to please them. I looked around at the Council members; the only ones that I recognized were Mace Windu and Yoda._

_Taking time to introduce the Masters to me, Master Windu turned back to me with his hands forming a steeple. "Suri, I know you have had a trying time recently, but we, the Council, must understand why this happened to you. If at all you do not want to answer a question, just tell me and I will move on. Are you ready?" His deep brown eyes bored into me, making me feel small and insignificant._

_"I understand, Master." Since I was not told otherwise, I remained standing, my wrists grasped behind my back and my feet at shoulder's width. The position felt uncomfortable, but my muscles soon accepted it. _

_"All right; let us begin. Tell us about the two days before the time you were taken prisoner."_

_"I had received a transmission from the Starship Academy saying that I had been accepted as a new trainee pilot. My mother and I fought about this; she wanted me to marry a merchant back on Alderaan. I refused, packed my bags, and talked to my father.'_

_"One moment," one of the Masters paused; Master Ki-Adi Mundi, if I remembered properly. He had a long, narrow head and a small wisp of white curly hair at his chin. "Who is your father?"_

_"Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, Master."_

_"Continue, then."_

_"Well, I told him that I was leaving. He gave me both his consent and his blessing, and let me leave. After that, I walked to the spaceport and boarded my flight. Twenty-five hours after I boarded, the Separatists came, chose ten of us at random, and made us their prisoners."_

_"So," Yoda inquired. "Know you not why chosen you were?"_

_"No, Master."_

_"Fine," Mace Windu told me. "Tell us about what happened to you during the torture."_

_"A Bothan bounty hunter chained my wrists and ankles, whipped my back with an electro-whip, and cut my arms and legs with a poison-soaked vibro-shiv. He denied me food, and gave me only a little water each day." I tried to make it as brief as I could, but the Council members got the picture. Disgust crawled onto the face of many of the Council members as they heard even this concise description of my ordeal._

_"Did you see anyone besides the bounty hunter during your torture?" Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, a human with kind brown eyes and a beard on his chin asked of me._

_"Yes, I did. It was a four-armed droid who constantly walked past my cell. He had sort of an alien-like face and voice to him, sort of like a sickly sliminess. He wore a metal exoskeleton that barely covered his limbs and torso. He constantly mentioned the Separatist leaders, the Clone Army, and a man he called 'Lord Sidious'." At this, the Council members became more interested, as they began to question one other about this new information._

_Once the Council had stopped their talking, Master Kenobi asked me another question. "Suri, can you show us some of the injuries from your torture?"_

_Without a word, I removed the arm guard; I wiggled my new robotic fingers for the Council. Once I had replaced the guard, I took off the jacket and began to unwind the bloody bandages; since I was wearing a breast band, I was not too concerned about my modesty at this point. Once I was done, my back and torso were visible to the Council; I began to slowly turn around, my arms extended straight out from my sides. I do not think that any of the Council members were not shocked by what they saw._

_My skin was becoming a pale red, the lacerations slowly forming scars all over. The avulsions were still a bloody red, the skin still was supple. When the skin flaps moved suddenly, it caused me great pain. My ribs were showing through my skin, from lack of food. I heard troubled murmuring around me, as I rewrapped the bandages and put on my jacket once again._

_"Child, tests may we do on you?" Yoda spoke first after a period of silence among the Council members._

_"Okay," I replied; I was rather anxious about what kind of tests that the Masters were going to do._

_"Need not be afraid, child. First, this stone take from my hands." He pulled out a small stone from his pockets and held it out for me in his open palm. This was an old exercise that I did with my friends back home. I reached out and grabbed the stone before Yoda could close his hand. The Masters around me were amazed at my speed._

_"All right… Now is test of memory. To me recite names of all Council members present."_

_This was trickier then the last test. However, I tried my best. Closing my eyes, I began to recite their names: "There is Master Shaak Ti, Master Kit Fisto, Master Mace Windu, Master Yoda, Master Stass Allie, Master Plo Koon, Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, Master Agen Kolar, Master Saasee Tiin, Master Aayla Secura, and Master Obi-Wan Kenobi."_

_"Fine. Lastly, mediate for us please do."_

_"Mediate for how long, Master?"_

_"For two minutes, young one." When he finished talking, I made myself ready. I closed my eyes, sat with my legs crossed tailor-style, slowed my breathing, and put myself into a trance. The thing is, whenever I mediated, I hovered off the ground probably by a few inches. I heard several gasps from the Masters at this unusual display. I lowered myself back onto the ground, and opened my eyes._

_Mace Windu and Yoda looked at each other; Yoda gave Mace Windu a single nod. "All right. We have one final question: How are you feeling, Suri?"_

_This was odd; why should the Masters care how I feel? "I'm cold, sir. My new forearm feels strange. I'm sure that Anakin Skywalker can agree with me, even if he is not here: it is not easy adjusting to a new limb after it has been replaced with cybernetics." During this question, I found myself rubbing it when it would not keep warm._

_I noticed all through out the questioning that Obi-Wan leaned back into his high-backed chair, and he kept looking at me with his dark brown eyes. It scared me a bit; his chestnut colored eyes were as powerful as Mace Windu's._

_"Thank you Suri. You can go now." This time, it was Master Plo Koon who told me that I could go. I bowed once again to the masters, and then quietly left the room. With the meeting over, I headed back to the med centre. There, a healer ran a couple tests, to make sure that I was stable enough to be discharged. When that was proven, I grabbed my satchel. She stopped me, pausing only to give me a case of bacta and a tool kit for maintaining the settings on my forearm. I stuffed these new items into my satchel, and tried to leave the Temple as quickly and as quietly as possible, my bare feet making no sound against the cold stone floor._

_"Wait!" someone called from behind me as I reached the doors of the Temple. Skywalker walked up to me. "The Masters have given you a place to stay in the Temple." He placed his hand on my shoulder._

_Taking my hand from the door, I turned around. "Thanks, but I have to get to the Starship Academy. My plan, after all, was to become a pilot, to serve in the war."_

_"I regret to inform you, but the Starship Academy has been recently destroyed. Apparently, it was because the sheer number of pilots available and the firepower of the ships on the side of the Republic became a threat to Captain Grievous. So, unless you wish to return home, you have no place to go. Besides, the Masters would like to be kept informed of the progress of your healing. This way, please," he told me, sympathy lacing his voice. He removed his arm from my shoulder, and pointed back into the atrium._

_I numbly followed Skywalker back inside the Temple, and to a small room, close to a place called "The Room of a Thousand Fountains". I closed the door behind me, and gazed into my new surroundings. There was a sleeping mat on the ground. Close to the mat was a small stone basin of water. On the other side of the mat, was a small closed cabinet with shelves inside for storage. That was all._

_I unpacked my belongings, placing them carefully into the cabinet, and made the bed with a thick blanket that I found folded tightly in the cabinet. I took this time to look in the tool kit that the med droids had supplied me with. Inside, was a bottle with lubricant with a thin spout, a fifteen-piece of miniscule screwdrivers, a handheld soldering gun, fifteen metal pieces to solder with, leather softener for the guard, and a polishing cloth._

_Afterwards, I headed to The Room of a Thousand Fountains. I found a secluded piece of grass above a rolling waterfall, and I began to mediate on the events that had unfolded since leaving Alderaan. __I took this time to look over my cybernetic forearm. I removed the guard, and absent-mindedly let my fingers touch the parts that were now my lower arm. It felt familiar now, but the metal was still cold to the touch, the wiring still complex to me._

_Suddenly, a fish jumped out of the water, breaking my trance. Coming back to my senses, I replaced the guard, and left for my lodging. I drew a draught from the water; it tasted fresh and pure, with the essence of warm spices swimming in the background. After the drink, I laid my head down on the mat, and slept for the rest of the day..._


	8. His Decision

Seeing the sandy planet ahead of me, I marked the place where I had left off. Taking the ship off auto-pilot, I guided it through a smooth landing right in front of my home.

When I reached home, I carefully laid my mom on her bed. I knelt to the floor, and looked in the small cupboard on the side of the bed, the top of which served as my mom's table. There was a small, neatly-folded stack of furs. I laid these furs on my shoulder, and gazed at my mom for a moment. Her face had become riddled with scars that I had never seen before.

I remembered what my mother had taught me about the burying ritual on Alderaan. The dying person would bear a sapphire ring on their left ring finger. Their eyes and mouth were wrapped in cotton, and two coins were placed on their eyes. Looking deeper in the cabinet, I found what I would need. Carefully cradling her in my arms, I gently carried my mom back outside.

Embracing the heat like an old friend, I began to bury my mother. Carrying her to the shade, I dug in the sand. My mind was bent on the task, focusing on the careful niceties that I took to honour her. Covering the ground with one of the pelts first, I lowered my mother's body into her final resting place. Wrapping her eyes and mouth, I placed the coins and the ring in their proper place.

I brushed off the sand from her dirtied hair; as a reminder to always remember her, I cut off a piece of her chestnut hair. I kissed her on her forehead, the final sign of my love to her. Placing a large piece of gold-black wolverine fur on top of her, I finally buried her under the sand.

To finish the job, I placed the tombstone upright in the sand. I knelt in front of her grave, and said my final good-byes and the prayers of the departure of the dead. I held a two hour vigil for her, just kneeling there in remembrance. After the vigil, I pulled out the penknife from my mother's kit; she had taught me that the family members would carve the Alderaan symbols for loss and grief into their arms. That is what I began to do; the tears began to flow again from my tired eyes, not from pain but from utter loss.

Night was coming. I headed back inside my home, grief making my steps heavy. Wrapping my arms, I came to a decision: I can't live here anymore.

I pulled out a trunk and began to pack. I placed the furs: five other gold-black-brown wolverine skins, the pelt of a sand lion, and two pelts of black wolves at the bottom of the trunk. On top of the precious furs, I threw in one of Mom's old belongings: a data pad about the galactic systems. Just for luck, I tossed in all of my tools with my new weapons and cleaning kit. My hand fell on her old lightsaber, displayed on her table; I knew very little about how to use it, but I would never part with it. With that, I closed and locked the trunk.

I then grabbed a satchel. I filled it up with the last of the harvest; the deed to the house; the rest of the small things and knick-knacks around the house. Before I leave Tatooine, I would sell what I could in the marketplace for a little extra cash. Remembering my mother's jewellery box, I opened the satchel even wider and placed the whole thing in.

Before dropping the jewellery in the box, I grabbed my good luck piece: a small drop sapphire that dangled from a gold hoop. Without thinking any further, I stuck the drop through the fleshy lobe of my right ear; a small amount of blood spurted out. I wiped it off with a cleaning cloth, and left my house for the last time.

I walked the distance to Mos Eisley, and began to sell my goods. Many of the women were glad to buy the jewellery, and a newlywed man and woman bought the deed of my old home and farm at a good price that satisfied all three of us. Finally, I went around to the produce stalls and sold the remnants of the harvest, trying to give a fair price for everything.

The next stop that I needed to make was Drago's workshop. It was a little dump in the centre of the smuggler's den. Parts and half-assembled ships littered the repair yard. There was one rule here: ask no questions.

"Organa!" The scarred old man ran out of the shop. "You're late! The racers are just coming in for last minute fixers!" His right eye grew a tic as he pointed inside the shop.

"Drago. I quit." Those three words, simply uttered, and I turned on my heel. His curses filled the air until he was red in the face. It was simple: that part of my life was over.

Before I went back to my ship, I went to my favourite stand in the entire bazaar: the weapons stand. The owner was accustomed to seeing me there; I often came and gawked over his goods, but never before did I have money. With some of the funds that I had just earned from my successful bargaining, I purchased a small Mandolian blaster, a dart gun, and a set of three dozen toxic darts.

Walking back from the market, I opened the airlock of my ship; carefully I put the trunk in the backseat. Remembering something back in the house, I walked back inside to grab a long piece of wood to keep me entertained. Before entering the ship, I looked back out on the sandy world of Tatooine, knowing that this might possibly be the last time that I would be able to see the rolling sands, the sandstone mesas, and the grimy spaceport of Mos Eisley. Fate ushered me inside the ship and closed up the airlock.

I heard my weapons kit slip around in the trunk. Cursing, I crawled back to see the damage. Luckily, the kit was not broken, but the knives were askew over the furs. As I rushed to put the knives back, a little slip of paper caught my eye; it was caught in the corner of the box, half-hidden under the padding. Lifting into the light, it had my mother's handwriting on it.

"Anakin," it read. "If you are reading this, then I am probably gone by now. Do not miss me, my son, for I am now in a place where my body is no longer in pain and where I am free.

"If you are in need of assistance, go find Solo. He's probably on Coruscant if I know him well. Never fear: I'll always watch over you."

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I typed in Solo and Coruscant in a search; it came up with the New Pilot Academy. It was worth a shot, so I typed in the coordinates and let the ship do the work for me. Once in the air, the auto-pilot told me that it was a six day trip to Coruscant. With nothing but stars and the occasional comet, I was on my own; it was a good opportunity for me to read more into my mother's life.


	9. Her Confession

_I spent the next three years at the Temple, either in the room that the Jedi had granted me or in the training ring outside of the Temple that I covertly found. I passed the time that I had in my room reading over my data pad, sleeping, modifying the range of motion on my new forearm with the tool kit, exercising as best I could, or mediating._

_Once a day, I left to gather some food from the common eating area. My meals usually consisted of a couple pieces of fresh fruit, a piece of hard bread, a small portion of lean meat or fish, and a large glass of water. Along with the food, I also took my daily dosage of the nutrient tablets that I had brought from Alderaan. On my home world, we tended to never eat large amounts of food, in order to avoid becoming corpulent. But we made it important to eat at least one meal every day, so the small amounts of food did not disturb me._

_In the eating area, when I came to select my food, some of the Padawan Learners would stop what they were doing and stare; they would begin to whisper amongst their friends and point at me, like I was some kind of animal in a zoo. No one came and actually asked me anything; instead, I heard the stories that I was a Separatist, that I was being held prisoner here by the Republic, that I was a Jedi android long come out of retirement. Nothing that they told came anywhere near the truth. I heard their comments as I walked to the food line: "Who is she? Why is she displaying her wounds, like she's some like of hero? She's just doing it for the attention! She's a freak!"_

_I guess that I was some kind of freak in their eyes, with eyes that change colors with my moods, shorn chestnut brown hair, loose black clothes, and a drawn in stomach with bandaging showing everywhere. But still, the comments cut me deep. So I learned how to erect walls around my heart and my head in order to keep myself in check.  
_

_Once every four days for the first four weeks, I found myself in the med center, being monitored by both the med droids and the healers. After about six of these check-ups, the healers decided that it was time to remove the bandages and stitch up the avulsions that stubbornly did not want to heal on their own. "Suri," the head healer, a kind Twi'lek named Naru, told me. "We need you to take off your jacket, and lie down on the sleeping mat. We are going to sew up your back. We cannot be sure whether or not the electro-whip was poisoned as well, so we must do this manually."_

_With that, I did as they asked; I wanted to get rid of these bandages so badly. The healers numbed my back, so that I could not feel them sewing up the skin of the avulsions on my back. I felt nothing except the prick of their needles. Once they were done, Naru tapped my shoulder. "We have done all we can, but we must tell you. The scars will never go away. You will have long ropy scars on your back for the rest of your days."_

_Back inside my room, I inspected the healer's handiwork. The avulsions were just started to scab over, but like she said, the scars would be massive. The lacerations formed pearly scars on my arms and legs on their own. At least the burns had mostly healed by now. That was a blessing; now I didn't have to worry about placing weight on them and feeling pain.  
_

_At last, I was summoned again to the Council Room. I initially thought that they had more questions that they wanted to ask of me. When they called for me, I entered the room, bowed before the Masters, and stood at ease before them._

_"Suri, you are aware that the Jedi have their own little armada of fighter pilots, are you?" Master Ki-Adi-Mundi began._

_"Yes, Master."_

_"Well, since you have been deprived of the opportunity to train at the Starship Academy, may we offer a new route?"_

_"What do you mean, Master?"_

_"We are offering the chance to train as a pilot, with the most talented flier in the Jedi Order as your mentor: Anakin Skywalker. He will train you when he is not on missions. At the end of six months of training, you will perform a flight test in front of a select panel of judges. If you perform exceptionally well, you will have the opportunity to join the Jedi's personal air armada."_

_When I heard this, I was overflowing with delight that my dream was finally coming true. On the outside, I quietly stood up, thanked the Masters, bowed, and left the chamber._

_My pilot lessons began within the next few days. I was up before dawn, my excitement supplying me with energy and adrenaline. I met Anakin down in the hangar bay. He was waiting for me, leaning on the side of one of the ships._

_"All right. The first things that you need to know about flying are the controls of the ship. You will be flying in standard V-Wing fighter class ship during these lessons. Now, come with me." Anakin walked over to his own ship, and began to point out the controls. "Now listen, I need to teach you fast. Today is the only day that we will not fly. Now pay attention, Suri. This is your steering, your navigational computer, your torpedo launcher, the activation to your shields, and your trigger. Now, point them out to me." Anakin pointed out each control to me._

_When I had finished repeating what he had just told me, Anakin showed me how to start the ship. That was easy; when it came down to actually flying, that was much harder. At least, I did not crash my ship on the first attempt. As I grew more accustomed to it, it was easier to navigate my ship._

_As Anakin and I flew around the Jedi Temple, he communicated his instructions and admonitions to me through a headset. "Bank to the left! Slow down! Do a barrel roll! You're going too fast, Suri! Come on, slowpoke! Bank! Turn around and do it again!" I listened carefully to what he said, and retained every piece of information._

_Soon, I began doing aerial tricks, like barrel rolls, close landings, fast takeoffs, and dodging other ships. This came in good use, once Anakin deemed me ready for his next test: racing him in the middle of the angry traffic of Coruscant._

_Most of the time, Anakin won the races, but only because he had had more experience flying these crafts. Slowly, I became more skilled, and I began to beat Anakin at his own game, winning more of these little races between us, and the raging traffic. Every time that I stepped into the cockpit of a ship and took control, became a time of utter euphoria to me._

_On one of the calmer days of flying, Anakin and I got to know each other better. "Hey, Suri," he spoke into his headset._

_"Yeah, Anakin?"_

_"Can you do something for me?"_

_"Sure."_

_"Can you promise me that our conversations will stay between us?"_

_"Sure. It's not often I get to talk with someone who just wants to talk."_

_"Okay. Suri, I'm married."_

_"Married?" Normally, Jedi were committed to only the Order; emotional attachments were expressly forbidden. This was just plain weird. "To who?"_

_"Padmé. Senator Padmé Naberrie Amidala of Naboo. That's not all: I'm going to be a father soon."_

_"Man, you are one lucky man, Anakin." At this news, I smiled; I always had a weakness for babies._

_The next day, our conversations took a more serious turn. "Suri, did you ever feel like you don't belong somewhere, that you feel yourself being pulled in other directions?"_

_"Anakin, I'm the daughter of a politician. Welcome to my life. Why you ask?"_

_"It's because I feel that sometimes the Council doesn't trust me because of my friendship with Chancellor Palpatine. He was the first friend outside the Order that I made, always wathcing out for me."_

_"And how does that relate to how the Council feels?" Despite not being a Jedi, I saw the struggles that the Order went through with the Republic. Everything seemed fine and dandy on the outside, but on the inside, it seemed like a struggle between obeying the Chancellor, and going off and find this mysterious Sith Lord that every one of them was searching for. Not for the first time had my room been ransacked because some of the more eager Padawans thought that I was the Sith Lord pretending to join their ranks to gain their trust.  
_

_Silence hung in the air after that last comment. "I don't think they trust the Chancellor either. The Council always pushes me to the side, keeping me out of its most important roles."_

_"Yeah. I feel discord between the Jedi and the Senate, but it's not easy to spot. Anakin, I trust more in the Republic than in the ways of the Jedi. Man, my own father is a Senator! But I think the Jedi are wrong; Chancellor Palpatine is one of the best Supreme Chancellors in the history of the Senate, and he's doing all he can and that within his power to stop the war! My trust and my allegiance are with the Republic, the Senate, and with the Supreme Chancellor, who at this point, is Palpatine."_


	10. His New Life

I stopped reading; from the clock on the dashboard, I had five days left on my trip. Placing the transmitter aside, I picked up the staff that I had brought along with me. Pulling out my penknife, I carved a winding snake up its entire length. I was incredibly focused, carving each individual scale. However, that only took another day off the trip. Exhaling, I plugged myself into cryo-sleep. Since my ship had no hyperspace drive, cryo-sleep allowed my body to turn off and rest for a journey instead of expending more energy.

Once I reached the outer atmosphere of the planet, I awoke again. Rather groggily, I navigated my ship into one of the five hangars of the New Pilot Academy. I saw only one ship in the bay; it was a clunker of a Corellian cargo ship, probably from before the beginning of the Rebel revolution against the Empire. It was undergoing some repairs being done by two creatures: a lanky man with black hair and a Corellian look about him, and a fierce looking Wookiee. On its side read its name, the Millennium Falcon.

"Hey, mate!" I yelled up to him. "Do you know a Solo?"

"What's it to you?" the man yelled back at me; standing on a stool with his back towards me, he definitely held the advantage of the conversation. He never took his eyes from his repairs, but the Wookiee growled at the name.

"He may be a man that my mother knew. Ever hear of her, Suri Organa?"

This got the man to pause a little before going back to his work. "Maybe. Like I said, what's it to you?"

"I found his name in one of her belongings. I'm thinking, maybe he can give me a job. So what you say to helpin' me find him?"

"You're looking at him. I'm Han Solo. This is Chewbacca." The man finally turned around to look at me. "I run this Academy. So, your mom is Suri Organa. How's she doing?"

"She's dead. So's how about that job?"

He wasn't listening to me; instead he paced. "Where is she buried?" He tried to sound conversational, but I could see tension lines on his face.

"What does that matter? She's gone."

"You'll get the job when you tell me where she buried, kid." The Wookiee began to growl at Han's tone.

"No." What did this guy not understand?

At that moment, two more people walked into the bay, another man and a woman. The first thing that I noticed about the man was that he was a Jedi; he carried a lightsaber at his side, his hand just within reach of it. The man had short curly brown hair covering a pale face. His deep brown eyes glared at me; mayhap he thought I was a risk. His right hand was covered in a black glove. He held his guard up, walking in front of the woman as if to protect her from something.

The woman had long brown hair wrapped in braids around her head. As she walked, the white dress that she wore rippled like water. Her face was set in an emotionless state; her deep brown eyes looked at me with cautious curiosity. She looked so much like the man; they had to be siblings, probably twins.

"Han, what's going on?" The woman laid a hand on Han's shoulder. Sighing, Han placed his hand over hers. That gave it instantly away: they were married.

"Leia… You remember Suri?" She nodded. "She's dead."

"What?" The man came forward. "Who's this, then?"

"My name's Anakin. I'm her son." I pulled the slip of paper out of my pocket. "She led me to you to get a job." Reaching to give it to Han, the other man intercepted it.

"Luke, what's it say?" Han craned his head to read the note for himself.

Luke looked up. "Where is she buried?" His voice was angry, his face even more so.

"What do you want with my mom?" I yelled at him. "You know what, forget it. This was a waste of my time." Giving up, I turned to walk back to my ship. My throat began to feel constricted and my mouth grew dry; I felt almost unable to breathe. I would just need to look elsewhere for a job; Coruscant was the biggest city in the galaxy, after all.

A kick to the ribs knocked me to the ground. Before I could react, Luke began to shake and hit me until I felt black and blue all over. I could hear Leia in the background trying to yell at him to stop; she was too late. I passed out from a weighted kick to my stomach.

I woke up on the ground, the cold metal of the hangar bay floor making my blood freeze. Tilting up my gaze, Luke, Han, and Leia were standing over me. Luke looked furious, but Chewbacca was holding him back. Han knelt beside me, looking at my injuries. Leia was berating Luke, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

Ignoring them, I began an assessment of the damage. My left hand and wrist were broken and bleeding profusely. Some of the bones were sticking out of my palm. It looked as though someone has stepped on my hand, hard. I brought my other hand to my lip, and felt that it was swollen and cut. I gingerly touched other parts of my face, and discovered that my face was covered in bruises. My right eye couldn't open save for a slit. Thinking about the pain, I began to feel disoriented and passed out again.

I felt myself being carried up some stairs, draped over a shoulder like a dead carcass. I could distinguish two or three questioning voices, but none of their words made sense. I was placed on something soft; something rough was wrapped around my wrists and around my ankles. I did nothing to stop them.

When I woke up, I was laying in a fetal position upon a bed, my hands and feet bound with coarse rope. My broken hand and wrist was bleeding into my shirt. I looked around, and saw that I was in a small dimly-lit room; nobody else was in it.

The door opened with the creak of a rusty hinge. I lifted up my head, my one sharp eye taking in every detail. In the threshold of the door stood Han, looking only slightly concerned about my current situation.

"You all right, kid?" he casually asked me. In one hand, he sharpened a throwing knife. I instinctively recoiled in fear at the sight of the knife, fear that spiked my adrenaline, only to feel every muscle in my torso protest at the movement from their bruises. "You gave us a scare when you fainted like that."

"I was afraid. You guys kept asking after my mother, it made no sense to me. All I was after was a job." I tried to be casual as I lifted myself up and sat up.

"Ah," Han said thoughtfully.

"Why am I tied up like this?" I asked Han. I tried to pick the knots around my wrists, but they were tied in a way so that it was impossible to remove without knowing how to untie the knots. Still, they began to chafe the skin beneath it.

"It's so you don't try to hurt yourself. Kid, your mother wrote us all letters every month after we parted ways. We were her only friends. Luke was the one who gave her access to healers after the second destruction of the Death Star." Han took one step closer to me.

"He could have told me that! She was my mother!"

"Well, Luke said he's sorry. He got real livid after you turned on him like that. He probably didn't understand that you cared so much for your mother. I gotta hand it to you, kid. You gave us all a real scare."

"So, Luke was just going to pay respects to her, not bury her in a different place?"

"Yeah, now you're catchin' on."

"Can you untie me? I got some apologies to make. The first apology goes to you, Han. Sorry that I turned away. I guess that I was just real scared that you would dig up my mom. I just wanted to get a job with you, as an apprentice, kind of." My anger diffused, I felt rather childish over my actions.

"Really? Kid, it'll be rough and tough. If you wanna, I ain't saying no."

"Yeah, 'cause I really wanna. Just give me some time."

"Okay. Hold still," Han told me as he took a better grip on his throwing knife and slowly cut away the bindings. I rubbed my ankles and good wrist with my good hand when the ropes fell off; my broken wrist screamed with pain every time I moved it. I stood up slowly, the blood from my hand soaking into my jacket.

"Han, where's Luke?"

"He's down the hall in the kitchen. Come down when you're ready." With that, he closed the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I patted my chest, where I had stowed away my mother's memoirs. I wanted to know if she had gone through something like this before, given an opportunity for something that she wanted to achieve. I was proven right.


	11. Her Test

_Finally, the day of my flight test came. I had to display my skills to the Masters, Anakin, the Supreme Chancellor, and a delegation of Senators. The Senators had no idea that the trainee that they would be judging was a girl. I was amused when I saw their faces turn to resentment and utter shock when they saw me walk up to Anakin. I heard one of the Senators swear when I accepted the headset from Anakin and walk over to my ship._

_When Anakin gave me the signal, I started up the ship, and hovered off the ground, waiting for my first test. At his word, I flew through an obstacle course, performed my best aerial tricks, completed a speed test in record timing, and displayed my targeting skills with the onboard weaponry system._

_When the test was completed, the Masters and the Senators both praised my skills as a pilot, even if the Senators were slower to do so. The Masters deemed me worthy to join the Jedi's air armada. The Supreme Chancellor said that he would personally look in on my progress from time to time. I glanced over in the direction of Anakin, and saw him grinning, showing that he was proud of both my skills and my success in the tests._

_When the crowd began to disperse, I looked over the faces of the delegation of Senators. There, in the crowd, was the last thing I thought that I would see again: the weathered face of Father. I walked up to him. "Father?"_

_He turned around, looking me over. "Suri? Is that you?"_

_"Yes, Papa. It's me." We were both overjoyed at the sight of each other. We drew together for a tight embrace; tears flowed freely from my sky-blue eyes._

_"Suri, we thought you were dead. We heard the news when you never arrived at the Starship Academy. Your mother was sick with worry. And when the Academy was destroyed, all of Alderaan was in mourning for you."_

_"Well, Father, the reason I never arrived at the Starship Academy was because I was taken prisoner."_

_"Prisoner?"_

_"Yes, by the Separatists. They tortured me, just because they could. Then, Anakin saved me from them. I was placed in the care of the Jedi. That's when I lost my arm…"_

_"What?" Papa's face went from incredulous to just plain shock._

_"Yes, my arm. It has been replaced with cybernetics; during the torture, it lost too much blood to actually be of any use anymore."_

_"Let me see!" Reluctantly, I removed the guard, and allowed him to personally examine the machinery. As a demonstration, I wiggled my fingers, to show him how complex the machinery was. I also rolled up my sleeve to show him the pearly scars glowing on my skin. His face told me that he was thoroughly shocked, but was glad that no further damage had occurred. With one final embrace, we parted ways…_


	12. His New Family

Sighing, I stowed the manuscript in a pocket on my pants. I took my tunic off and ripped it into makeshift bandages. My hand stung as I carefully wrapped pieces of my tunic around it. Grinding my teeth, I broke my fingers back into place and secured them with more wrappings. Seeing out of my good eye, my well-muscled torso and arms were covered with heel-sized bruises, already a sickly blue-black of healing. Unfortunately, I had no bacta with me. My face and bruises would have to heal on their own. Thus prepared, I walked out of the room.

The three of them, Luke, Leia, and Han, were seated at a table in the middle of the room. Luke fiddled with a plain hunting knife in his hands; its hilt was set with amber with little gold designs. There were four others there with them. I learned later that these were the other members of their combined families.

A woman stood with one hand on Luke's shoulder. Her vibrant red hair hung in a loose braid down to her shoulders. Out of a peerless oval face, light chocolate eyes held me in a cautious inspection. Although she was dressed in a long white tunic and leggings, I could tell that she was carrying weapons: a dagger at the small of her back and at the nape of her neck. Two more daggers were secured to the inside of her forearms.

A set of twins lounged on a bench on the wall opposite of Han. A brother and sister, they both were Jedi from the lightsabers around their waists. Both had brown hair the color of Leia's, but their pale complexion leant more towards Han. Their rough tunics and pants meant that they had just recently come home from somewhere. The boy, probably about thirteen, had his hair shorn with the exception of a braid hanging down from his right temple; the girl, about the same age, had her hair braided down to the small of her back.

Near their feet, a little seven year old boy sat cross-legged, his blue eyes keenly waiting for the adults to start talking again. He wore similar clothes to the others: rough tunics and pants, rugged hiking boots. However, no lightsaber hung down from his waist. His brown hair was roughly tied back off his face. His face grinned like a jester, waiting for the next joke to be told.

With my bruises and lack of shirt, I stuck out. Sighing, I leaned against the wall. My eye began to throb, but I exhaled again. Leia stood up and handed me a cup of water to drink.

"Thanks." The water felt smoothly glorious as it slid down my throat. She nodded and sat down next to Han. The barriers were set: I was not of them, and they did not know what to make of me.

Silence ensued for a few moments as the Solo and Skywalker families watched me drink my water. Finally, Luke began to talk again. "So, kid…"

"My name's Anakin, not kid." I looked straight ahead at the wall, just thinking. The older of the twins twitched threateningly, his hand moving closer to his lightsaber. In response, I flexed my biceps and craned my neck just ever so slightly. The kid might be a Jedi, but I could beat him in brute strength easily.

"So, Anakin, what do you want to do now?" Luke was oblivious to the actions of the Jedi behind me, or he knew and just did not care.

I drank some more of my water and rolled the cup between my hands before answering him; small drops of it began to dance over the surface, but away from the sightline of the others. "I honestly don't know." I looked at my busted hand, now wrapped neatly. My fingers still stung of something mighty brutal. "I don't have a father to go to for any help, at least, not that I know of. Mom told me nothing about him. I had only her, and now she's gone." Talking about my father was a touchy subject for me, something that I tried not to talk about if at all possible. I was an orphan now: who cared other than me?

My voice began to crack. Tears began to form in my eyes, but I pushed myself from the wall, turning to face it. I turned away from my hosts, so they could not see my shame. I pounded the wall with my fist. Trying to steady my voice, I continued to talk. "I just need someone to help me out. I got no one now." I made sure that no tears fell, making sure that only my voice cracked; my composure was calm again after a few breaths.

I heard behind me that Han stood up from the bench. He put his callused hand on my shoulder. "Look, Anakin… I'll give you that job you asked me for. See, I always wanted another son; Leia, too. You just gotta be okay with a guy like me being your dad." I turned around and gave Han a warrior's embrace.

He pulled me away. "Be warned, though: I'm a smuggler; it's a hard life. Once you're in, there's no turnin' back; it's like the point of no return." He looked dead serious; there was no fooling around on his face.

"Han, you don't have to worry. I know how to read faces, eyes, hands, and body. I also know many of the local dialects here, from Huttese to Jawaese to Dug and Toydarian; I can learn new ones just as quickly. My mom never knew, but my friends taught me how to pick-pocket, to pick locks, and to use hacking equipment. I can blend in with my surroundings easily." I chose not to tell him about my powers; some things were too supernatural to be easily accepted.

"You know how to fire a weapon?" Han looked serious, if not a little amused.

"Yeah: a blaster. My friends taught me how to use those," I replied, nodding towards the knife in front of Luke, "and Mom showed me basic self-defence moves she learned from a mercenary." I bit the inside of my lip, hoping that Han was not reconsidering his offer.

But my worries were not to be: Han took my hand and shook it. "Kid, you've got yourself a deal."

Leia came up behind him. "You know, if Han's going to be your father, I get to be your new mother. Is that alright?"

"I would be honoured. Just don't think about replacing my mother in my memories." I looked her in the eyes. Without another word, she gave me a gentle hug. Tears began to silently fall from my eyes as her silky robes rubbed against the calluses of my face. Without even a warning, she began to stroke my short brown hair in the same fashion that my mom used to do when I was upset.

Han laughed. "It's good you accept. Meet the rest of your family. That's Mara Jade," he pointed to the woman standing beside Luke. Han moved out of the way; so did the rest of the family. That triggered something in me; I tensed up for a fight.

She walked away from Luke and closer to me. Without even announcing, she made to kick me in the solar plexus. Mom's training kicked in, as I jumped out of the way and brought my heel down on her knee. She deflected and bent into another kick, this time for my neck. Bending backwards, I summoned the blade to my hand with my thoughts.

Grinning, Mara Jade reached for the dagger at the nape of her neck. But that little time had cost her the fight; I swept my leg at her ankles, making her fall. With a final move, I brought the knife to her throat.

"Very good, Anakin." She slid out from under the blade; walking backwards, she placed her arm around Luke's waist. I kept my guard up, but I lowered it slightly as Luke bent his head down to kiss her. "Yes, I have much to teach to you."

"What the hell just happened?" Was I the only one concerned by this? The woman had just attacked me!

"I was an Emperor's Hand, Anakin; an assassin trained by the will of the Force. Luke here," she kissed him again, "is my husband." The tone of her voice, it was like it explained it all. I lowered my guard completely, but kept my eye on her.

Clearing his throat, Han pointed to the twins in the corners. "These are my kids, Jaina-" pointing to the girl, "-and Jacen," pointing to the boy. They both gave me a nod with their chins. "Luke is training them as Jedi."

"Me, next! Me, next!" The boy at Jacen's feet rose and walked up to me, a grin painted on his face. "I'm Ben. He's my dad," he exalted, pointing to Luke. "I can fix you. I heal people."

"It's okay, Ben." I held my hand up and I crouched to his level. "I don't need to be fixed." With that, the eight of us gathered for a familial embrace. It was official: I was adopted and accepted by the Solos and Skywalkers.

With Han's permission, I walked out to the hangar bay to get the rest of my things from my ship. Carrying my trunk back to the room where I was kept, I finally got a look at my new home. I was going to live in the floors above the New Pilot Academy. Leia, Jacen and Jaina, Luke, Mara Jade, and Ben would make their permanent residence here; however, Han and I would live here only when we were not on smuggling missions.

Taking a closer look around, I realized what good fortune I had landed in. My room was big, almost about the size of the biggest room in my old homestead. There was a huge bed, a dresser to put all of my things, and even my own wash basin with running water. For a kid who had lived on a moisture farm all his life, this was certainly the lap of luxury.

For the next two days, I laid in bed healing my wounds. Luke was thoroughly sorry, so he kept his distance. My door remained open, but I had to stay still while the bacta worked its magic. The bruises cleared up within a few hours, but my hand, wrist, fingers, forearms, and eye took a day and a half to fully heal. Ben was a constant visitor, bringing me a piece of food to chew on while I was incapacitated.

While I was out of commission, I read more into my mother's journal. It was weird reading her story, since I discovered that her life and mine held many parallels.


	13. Her New Life

_It seemed that with every month that passed after my acceptance into the Jedi's armada, I was stationed at a different planet. After my acceptance, I was assigned to the company of Clonetroopers under Commander Cody: the 501st. My job was to help the clones clear the airspace of enemy resistance so that the ground troops could fight without any added hindrance. The clones grew to call me 'Ace' because I was one of the best human pilots in the Republic forces, other than Anakin himself; I was an acrobat in the air, whirling and spinning my enemies into confusion, but I always had the mission in hand. Commander Cody gave me every one month in four for my own purposes, since I wasn't a clone and couldn't run forever just on orders. I was human, and needed a break every now and then.  
_

_Before my assignment, I received the permission of the Council to outfit my own ship to my specifications. I took the ship that Anakin always gave me to practice with during my lessons, and began to make it my own. I outfitted it with a more advanced piloting system from Alderaan, more aerodynamically sound wings and body brought in-system from the Datooine and Mygeeto systems, and an extra thick cockpit window, imported from Nar Shaada. Finally, I gave it a new paint job of deep blue and silver detailing, transforming it from a standard Jedi fighter-class ship, to a ship of my own proud design. It was dubbed "_Gambit_" because it was a gamble for me every time that I was in space, whether I would live to fight another day or not.  
_

_Whether I was in space or on Coruscant, I spent almost all of the time rebuilding my muscles and my strength. I started slowly, simply with a set of twenty-five each of push-ups, jackknives, curl-ups, deep knee bends, squats, bench-presses, and chin-ups at a small facility outside of the Temple. After a while, I increased the sets to fifty, and then a hundred. I also added a thirty minute run each morning after I woke up. With this exercise regime in place, my muscles soon regained their almost steel-like density and power, and my strength was back to its level before the torture._

_I was lucky in that I found a training facility off Temple grounds for me to train without the jeers of the Padawan learners. On one of the days during my first leave, I had stripped off my jacket, and was doing my sets of chin-ups. While I was going through my routine, a man of about forty years came up to me. "Where'd you get the scars, kid?" He may have been addressing me, but his eyes were focused on my cybernetic arm instead.  
_

_"What's it to you?" I tried to sound tougher that I really was, but I was tired. I jumped down from the bar, and just began to walk away._

_"Well, do you want to learn how to fight?" This got my attention. I walked back up to him and waited until he looked me in the eye.  
_

_"What kind of fighting?"_

_"Oh, basic defence, no-weapons submissions, injuring and killing opponents, and fighting dirty. What'd you say?"_

_"Sure" I was thrilled at the chance to learn new skills. "You can call me Suri."_

_"You can call me Master Joesh while I teach you. Want to start now?" For the next three leaves, I spent four hours a day with Master Joesh, learning basic hand-to-hand techniques and kicking styles, how to subdue your opponents without weapons, how to seriously injure and kill my opponents, and how to fight dirty. I got pretty good at it, since I worked my hardest at every session that I went to. Master Joesh was impressed, I could easily tell. He also understood that I couldn't practice when I was on my missions, but that wasn't any excuse for lack of effort.  
_

_On the early morning of one of my countless missions, I went to the cargo hold of Cody's ship to my usual spot: up in the rafters. I began to mediate when I felt another presence sit next to me. I opened my eyes, and there was Anakin. He was only wearing loose black pants, and a black jacket. The jacket clung loosely to his torso, showing off his rock-hard muscles. He had taken his guard off, and was staring at his cybernetic arm._

_I lowered myself to the ground. "Anakin, can I ask how you lost your arm?"_

_His face was stoic as he began his story. "It was just at the beginning of the Clone Wars, on the Outer Rim planet Geonosis. My master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I were fighting Count Dooku in a deserted hanger bay. I had gotten out of control, and Dooku took his chance. He sliced off my arm, disarming me for good._

_"Later, during my early career as a Jedi Knight, I was trying to prove that I was capable of completing the hardest trial of Spirit of the fabled Trials. On the planet Nilwaan, I was charged by the local shaman with destroying a power crystal to save a lost group of hunters. While I was destroying it, unspeakable pain shot up my arm, and it was destroyed again."_

_On the days that I wasn't with Joesh or on missions or training, I taught myself the ways of the knife wielder. I practiced at first with only my hunting knife which I had brought from Alderaan. It was a gorgeous piece of work: it was a folded transperisteel blade, with a hilt of polished oak. In the middle of the hilt, and going around the circumference of the hilt, was a design of polished pure amber, set with little gold designs. The blade should have been considered an antique, but I preferred using blades over a blaster or toxic dart-gun: it allowed me to be face-to-face with my opponent instead of sneaking around in the shadows. I used the practice dummy in my room to practice my techniques: my slashing, my pressure points, and my throwing._

_Soon, I wanted to expand my repertoire of weapons. So, I left the Temple one day in search of a cheap weapons kit. I scoured the local bazaars, until I found the weapon stands. Still I looked until I found the weapons kits that I was looking for; it even came with a maintenance kit._

_"Hey!" I yelled at the owner. "How much you want for this?" I asked him, pointing down at the kits._

_"Two hundred credits!" He yelled back at me. The Jedi Council paid me an abysmal salary, but it was worth it, since they paid for my boarding and my food.__ Handing him the credits, I shook his hand to seal the deal. I picked up my new belongings and headed back to the Temple._

_Back in my room at the Temple, I inspected my newly acquired goods. The weapons kit itself was constructed of solid oak, and was inlaid with jet and silver in an ancient arabesque style. Inside, resting on a cushion of midnight blue velvet, were the most exquisite weapons I had ever seen. There was a dagger with a single sapphire inlaid in the pommel, a pocket knife with an emerald pommel, a set of throwing knives with a ruby as the pommel on each, and a penknife with various lock-picking attachments, all with diamonds at the end of their hilts. The hilts of all of the weapons were highly polished oak, the most durable and comfortable wood in the galaxy. All of the weapons were folded transperisteel; this was the best metal experimented on in the galaxy. Along with the weapons was a set of stiff leather sheathes._

_Looking over all of the weapons, I realized that they were brand-new: someone must have obviously enjoyed ancient weaponry enough to forge these antiques. These weapons were fit for a king, or at the very least, a highly renowned and privileged warrior._

_The outside of the cleaning kit was decorated similarly to the weapons kit, with the exception of gold and diminutive sapphires and rubies in the arabesque. The contents of the cleaning kit included five cotton polishing cloths, a medium-sized jar of fine white sand to scour the blades, a fine grade of sandpaper for sanding away scratches in the blades, a set of three different-sized whetstones, silver polish, leather softener, and cleaning and anti-rusting oils, each of which were stored in four carefully fashioned diamond jars. All of these items were displayed on a cushion of forest green velvet._

_I made sure that I hid these unusual kits from the occasional Jedi who entered my room to talk. However, on one of the days that I was practicing, Anakin walked in unannounced._

_"Where did you get these?" he asked me when his eye fell on my new blades._

_"From the bazaars outside," I tried to talk nonchalantly, but fear struck in my eyes. Since Anakin was friends with Master Kenobi on the Council, he could report this, possibly costing me my commission with the armada._

_"They're beautiful. I'm more into tools myself. Listen, I won't tell anyone." He turned around and left, but not before flashing me his gorgeous smile. After Anakin left, I made sure to lock the door before going back to practice. I soon became at ease when I wielded these blades, practicing to make sure that I hit my targets swiftly and mercifully._

_I made sure that I kept these weapons in excellent condition. Every night, I polished them until they shone, and sharpened them until they do substantial damage with a single prick of the tip. I applied some of the oils to a cloth, and rubbed each blade until they had been cleaned thoroughly. I also used the leather softener on sheathes of the blades, in order for them to lose their stiffness and to become pliable. When I was finished, I stored the weapons and the cleaning kit in my satchel with the rest of my belongings. I had to be ready to leave at a moment's notice, but even so, after three years of living here, the Temple wasn't my home.  
_


	14. His Training

"Anakin!" Han came knocking by my door. In a rush, I jumped off the bed. My wounds were all but gone, and I was bored out of my mind. "Luke wants to use your piloting skills for a demonstration for the pilot trainees at the academy. You interested?"

"Hell, yeah!" Reaching for a new shirt, I ran down to the hangar bay. Luke was waiting patiently for me; he was thoughtful enough to leave my own ship out for me to use.

"This is one of our more advanced pilots, Anakin, Jaren." Luke pointed out a lad of about seventeen years, with a rather muscular build. "This is your test: you have to beat Jaren in a race around the Academy, while consistently doing barrel rolls and somersaults. You wanna try?"

"Let's do this." Without a word from Jaren, we started up our ships, and began the race. It was effortless; I had been flying since I was six years old. The barrel rolls and the somersaults were a nice twist, but I had easily beaten a senior of the New Pilot Academy. I was now worthy of Luke's approval, not that I even asked for it.

The very next day after the test, I had to pack: Han was leaving in an hour to the paradise satellite planet of Senali, and he wanted me to come along with him. Once we had landed, the skills that I had engrained into my mind kicked into full gear. At that point, I made it my practice to begin lip reading the dealers and the buyers of my foster father's goods, proposing good deals and counter deals with Han, and making sure that we escaped the planets with swift speed and precision whenever something aroused from the illegal goods that we sold.

After the first trip, Han gave me permission to outfit my ship to my eclectic tastes. Mom had done a good job, but most of the equipment in the fighter class craft was outdated and barely working as it was. Over the next two weeks, I spent scouring the rooms in the Academy for spare navigation equipment. Most of the machines I acquired easily; my ultimate goal was met when I acquired a hyperdrive generator and cloaking device, both in mint condition. Finally, journeys that would have taken me days would be done in hours; the power of stealth could be mine to master. In the end, my ship was a thing of beauty; from now on, I would travel with Han in my own ship. In honour of its completion, I christened it the Tatooine Trickster.

Mara Jade Skywalker took an interest in me; she began to help me out with my martial arts skills. Being a former Emperor's Hand, she was well-versed in the arts of self-defence. Everyday, just like Master Joesh helped my mother out, Mara would teach me to hone my skills to perfection, and to practice them everyday to enhance them and keep them sharp. She was a strict teacher; only perfection and unyielding adhesion to the rules she set would suffice at all times. When I came home after getting into more-than-occasional fights at the cantina, she would make me practice with my injuries still fresh, in order to toughen me up. I enjoyed these sessions; it was a way for me to vent my frustration of the day's events.

The second time that Luke took interest in me was when I was mediating in my room. He approached my side just as I was waking up. In his hand was the knife that he first had when I was adopted.

"Anakin," he sat down at the edge of my bed. "This was given to me by your mother right before she had you. She told me that I would know when to pass it on to the person who needed it down the road of time. I think she meant that you were to have it." Just like that, he proffered the knife over to me.

As he was leaving, he noticed my mom's old lightsaber; I always kept it on my bedside table, a constant reminder of her. "This yours?" He picked it up, testing its heft. Pressing his thumb to the button, both blades zoomed out. Twirling it in his hand, I could see that Luke was impressed.

"Your mother made this? Amazing!" Turning it off, Luke sat back down on my bed. "Anakin, I can't teach you to defend yourself with this, but I can teach your blade dances that you can perform with them. Interested?" With a nod from my head, my lessons began. Reading further into my mother's memoirs, I learned how this lightsaber came into her possession…


	15. Her New Weapon

_During one of the days on my leave when I was training with my knives, Anakin knocked on my door. "Hey, Suri!"_

_I invited him in. "Yeah?"_

_"Do you still train with your knives?" He came into my room and leaned against the wall, looking over my scarred body as I turned my back to him.  
_

_"I'm actually in the middle of one of my practice sessions. Why?" I slipped into a new tunic before looking at him. Thanks to my assignment to Commander Cody's company, I now had a Republic uniform with the bars of a lieutenant on my shoulder. I didn't like wearing it when I trained, but the rest of the time, it was fine.  
_

_"Would you like to sit in on a lightsaber practice? You would not be allowed to train with the students, but it is really cool to watch the Padawans practice." His eyes glinted; Anakin knew that I was fascinated by the lightsabers of the Jedi.  
_

_"Sure! Just let me put my knives away." Once I cleaned myself up a bit and slipped into my uniform, I picked up my satchel and followed Anakin down into the atrium and into a small corridor. He opened the door into one of the classrooms. Inside were ten Padawans with blindfolds, using the Force to sense their opponent's movements and attack them in turn. Master Aayla Secura was leading the lesson._

_"Master Secura, can I talk with you?" Anakin called out to her. "This is Lieutenant Suri Organa. She wishes to sit in on your lightsaber practice at about this time every week, if that is okay with you."_

_"Of course, Anakin." Master Aayla Secura was a formidable lightsaber fighter and it showed in her casual akimbo stance. "If you will simply sit against the wall near the table, you can watch. But there is one rule: as an outsider, you must remain silent. These Padawans are learning a delicate art, one not often shown to outsiders. Consider this an honour." Her dark orange eyes looked me over before returning to her teachings._

_"Thank you, Master Secura," I replied, bowing before her. Following her instructions, I sat against the wall. Since I had to keep silent, I took out my paper and drawing materials, and I drew out the various positions that the Padawans took. As I continued to watch, I learned each position and memorized it, reminding myself to use my knives to practice them back in the quiet of my room._

_Before I knew, the lesson was over for the day. I gathered up the drawings that I did and left quietly, but not before Aayla Secura stopped me. Silently, she took my drawings from me, nodded at some of them, and then handed them back to me. She must have been convinced that these were just harmless drawings._

_After three weeks of practicing the positions, I wanted to try my hand at a real lightsaber. This venture was going to be difficult, since all of the practice lightsabers were kept under lock and key in Aayla Secura's classroom. Plus, I was leaving for another mission in two days, narrowing my window of opportunity. However, the Jedi did not expect that they would allow someone into their building who had possession of a penknife that could open locked doors…_

_Late that very night, I woke at the dead of midnight. All of the Jedi were fast asleep; I could feel it. Since I was dressed all in black, it was easy for me to sneak back into her classroom. Bringing out my penknife, I forced the door open. Finding my way around the classroom, I found the cupboard where all of the lightsabers were kept. Opening this up, I carefully took out both a practice dual-blade lightsaber and a custom kit; the custom kit had every pierce inside of it to make a personalized lightsaber. Finally getting what I wanted, I carefully closed the doors and walked back into my room._

_The day before I was set to leave, I didn't bother going outside. I took apart the practice lightsaber, and began to construct my own with both the custom kit and my tool kit. It was a lot more complex then I first realized. Taking out the transperisteel shell, I took it apart so that it was in two halves. I first placed the electronic components inside, one set at each end of the shell: there was an emitter matrix, power conduit, and energy gate, that allowed the blades to show and to adjust the length of the blades to my liking, cycling field energizers to control the level of power the blades had (that would depend on how much damage I would want to do), a miniature power cell and a recharge socket as a secondary source of power._

_I had run out of time to work on it at the Temple, so I stowed all of the pieces away in my satchel. Problem, though: I had to return the lightsaber to the practice cupboard. However, I had the basics down, and the rest was drawn out and stored in a schematic transmitter. So, it was okay to return the pilfered weapon, albeit again in the depths of night. While I was on board, I always worked on the blade at night in my quarters.  
_

_After all of the electronics were in place, I then pondered my choice of crystal as my primary power source. Since I was an outsider to lightsaber usage, I wanted a unique color for my blades. Searching through the kit, I found the necessary Adegan crystals for black blades. I placed the lens assembly by the emitter matrix; this allows the lightsaber to show its blades in the first place. Next, I carefully placed the two black power crystals in the center of the shell, and surrounded the inside of the shell with insulating materials._

_Once I had duplicated the practice lightsaber's inside, I placed the two halves together and patiently soldered them together. When that was done, I sanded the outside of the blade with the sandpaper from my maintenance kit, to make sure that the shell had no evidence of ever being separate. Finally, I began the outside of the lightsaber. I attached the two handgrips in comfortable positions for me. Right beside the two handgrips, I then added the activation buttons; it would activate when my hands were in position, and I moved my thumbs to touch them. My lightsaber was finished; the entire process had taken me three weeks to make._

_At last, I activated the lightsaber. Pressing the buttons, I bit my lip in excitement. But my work was not finished; I now had to make sure that everything about my creation was to my liking. I spent the rest of the day tuning the adjustments to my liking, mainly the length and frequency of the blades.  
_

_Once that was done, I began to practice with it. It was slow at first, because it was a new tool for me. I couldn't practice on Cody's ship, so it had to wait until my leave, and even then, it had to wait until after my lessons with Master Joesh. I took the positions that I had learned from Aayla Secura's unknowing instructions and applied them now with the correct weapons. Over the time of seven leaves, I worked myself to the level of the Jedi with my abilities with the lightsaber; I fought imaginary duels inside my room, away from the eyes of the Jedi. Not even Anakin knew that I had a lightsaber; I wanted nobody to know._

_Every leave day now took a routine. I would wake up, get dressed, bring some food to room, and eat quietly. After eating, I would leave for two hours of flying both in the simulators and in the air above Coruscant's traffic. Following flying practice, I would head to the facility, where I would spend another four hours with Master Joesh in combat training. After that was done, I would head back to the Temple, for half an hour of meditation, and one hour of knife-wielding techniques._

_After weapons training, I brought out my lightsaber, and I practiced the necessary blocks and attacks for two hours. By doing this, I soon became at the same level of cool expertise with all the weapons I used, as the Jedi were at with their knowledge of the Force. Weapons training became like a routine, rote into my memory using my expanded repertoire of weapons. I kept my lightsaber on my body, under my jacket at all times. Even at night, I made sure that my lightsaber was within hand's reach._


	16. His Life

My lifestyle slowly began to change as time past and I spent more and more of my life as a smuggler. Outside of my smuggling trips with Han and the exercise routine I ran through every day, I tried to explore Coruscant more often, especially the bazaars. When Han found out about those trips, he forbade me from leaving the Academy for two months as punishment. It was a strict life, but my lesson was well-learned: no one could trust another person.

Even the way I dressed was slowly changed while living with my new family. Around my waist appeared a belt that held the holster to my blaster and toxic dart gun, extra ammunition, and automatic translator. The translator came in handy so many times, since I self-taught myself so many of the languages that I heard on my trips. My boots concealed two knives around my calf, one on each leg. My long sleeves covered up the two other daggers that I wore on all of my trips, day and night. I always wore black loose clothing, to both hide all the weapons that I wore and so that I could easily move among the crowds. My hands were always covered in black fingerless gloves, so that the back of my hands would not become scarred with the constant repairing of the _Falcon_ and _Trickster_.

Over time, my body grew chiseled from all of the labor and maintenance that the _Millennium Falcon_ and _Tatooine Trickster_ needed of me. Every morning, I would run around for thirty minutes, and swim in the nearest lake or pool for an hour. When I got back home, I would lift weights and do push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, and martial arts to limber me up. Finally, to end the routine, I would run through a lightsaber dance and then throw daggers across the room into a plank of wood; this allowed me to practice my aim. My torso looked like bricks had grown into my body. I could take down a full-fledged Gungan with only my martial art skills. My arms and legs were made of muscles like transperisteel, but my mind was always sharp.

I guess that all of the fights that I got into in the local planetary cantinas also helped out my stature. It's not like I went looking for fights; some people just annoyed me, and needed to be taught a lesson. Many times, I came back to the _Falcon_ with a bruised up face and arms from my fight. Sometimes, the injuries grew from bruised up arms and face, to broken arms and being beaten unconscious. Leia never grew accustomed to seeing Han drag my unconscious body down the gangway of the _Falcon_ or out of the _Trickster_ when our trips were over. But the good thing was that I was mostly the victor of my fights; the losers always got it worse than I did.

The smuggling business proved to be a most profitable business. The money that Han and I earned went into an account for the family, which any of us could access if we were tight for cash. Life was comfortable with Leia and Han, but I never felt like this is what I wanted to do with my life. I needed to discover what I wanted to do on my own. Finally, I made up my mind. I decided to tell Han and Leia the result of my thinking on my twenty-third birthday.

"Anakin, come down from your room!" Han yelled down the hall. 'We want to talk to you!" Before I left my room, I grabbed a small bag of presents for all of my family, as a way to ease the pain of good-byes. Running down the hallway, Leia and Han surprised with my birthday celebration.

"Happy birthday, kiddo!" Han gave me a warrior's embrace while Leia waited her turn to hug me.

"Aw, guys! You didn't have to get me anything!" This celebration began to make me feel guilty about my decision.

"Yes, we did! You're our son, and we need to celebrate your birthday!" All of them, Han and Leia, Jaina and Jacen, Mara Jade and Luke, even little Ben were all here to celebrate my birthday.

"Just wait until you see your presents!" Little Ben came first, bearing the right leg of a set of armour. Mara Jade came forward, offering to me the left leg. Jaina and Jacen came with the arms of the suit. Luke came forward with a utility belt. Finally, Han and Leia gave me the torso. I was so enthralled; with each piece that I received, I put it on. By the time that I received the torso, I saw that this was a suit of Mandolian armour of the highest make. It was made of transperisteel, with deep blue detailing for its only decoration. The suit was missing the helmet, but it was alright; it was the best birthday gift that I had ever received.

"Aw, guys. This is too much." Tears began to form in my eyes. "Guys, I have my own announcement to make."

Mara Jade stopped me. "You feel that it is time for you to leave us, isn't it?" I nodded towards her.

"Anakin, you can't be serious, can you?" Leia came forward, and helped me out of the armour. "I mean, we're your family."

Thankfully, Mara Jade understood my intentions better than Leia did. "Leia, you cannot expect him to remain tethered at your side forever. It is time for him to experience the world on his own."

"Leia, Mara Jade has it right. I need to experience this galaxy on my own." Free of the armour, I reached behind me for the bag of presents. "These are for all of you, as presents from me to you." Without another word, I distributed my gifts. Mara Jade received a set of black fingerless gloves that she had been eyeing in the marketplace for a long time. Luke's gift was a simple silver band carved with a Tatooine inscription to ward off dangers. Little Ben, he got a carving of Jacen and him with their lightsabers drawn, ready to fight. To Jaina and Jacen, I gave them each a little stone carving of a good luck piece, to wear as a pendant to ward off harm.

Finally, I turned to Han and Leia. Without a word, I pulled out their gift with a flourish. Everyone gasped as they saw it: I had made them a full-size quilt for their bed. It was made from all of the pelts that I had brought with me from home, along with other furs that I had collected on my smuggling trips. Once I had enough pelts, I cut them into small squares, and sewn them into an intricate pattern. It was a perfect gift for them.

I gathered everyone up into a hug, and then left. "I will make you all proud. I swear it." Those were my last words to them before I took my leave.

Gathering up the rest of my belongings, I started up my ship and travelled to Tatooine. Once I landed back home, I sought out the most sinister place this side of the Outer Rim: the court of Jabba's son, Zorba the Hutt. My mother had gone through a trial of fire to find out who she really was; I needed to do the same.

Before entering the palace, I made sure to don my armour once again, keeping all of my weapons in my satchel as a sign of good intentions. Upon entering the palace, I was searched by his Gamorrean guards; my satchel was torn through to search for any explosives. Making sure that they did not miss a beat, I was introduced to Zorba's major-domo, the Twi'lek Juctia.

"What is your business here, pitiful human?" I was forced by the spear in my back to kneel in the sand, staring up at Juctia. Another spear was pressed against my throat, so I had to make sure that I answered correctly.

"Sir, I am here to serve your lord Zorba as his guard and bounty hunter." The major-domo looked surprised when I answered him in perfect Huttese.

"What makes you so sure that the mighty Zorba would want you to serve him?"

Without a word, I began to work through one of the many disarming routines that I learned with Mara Jade. I killed all three of the Gamorreans with one kick through the gut to the spine. Once free of their restraints, I turned to Juctia and pinned him to the floor, my elbow against his throat. "Does this earn me an audience with your lord, or not?" To emphasise my point, I pressed my elbow harder against his slimy little neck.

Without another word, I let Juctia up. Rubbing his throat, he motioned for me to follow him into the throne room; before moving, I slung my satchel over my shoulder. When we reached the throne room, Juctia motioned for me to wait at the door. Walking briskly, the Twi'lek major-domo walked up to the Hutt.

Zorba was about seventy years old, almost a teenager in the eyes of his people. However young he might have been, he still looked like his father, like all Hutts: an over-sized slimy slug chewing on a live rat. His large black eyes stuck out of his face. Whispering in the side of Zorba's head, Juctia motioned for me to come into the centre of the Hutt lord's court.

"This is Anakin Solo, Majesty. He requests the honour of becoming your personal bounty hunter, my lord." With his introduction, I fell down to one knee, my head bowed; I looked only at the ground, away from the jeering eyes of Zorba's court.

"Little human, why would I choose you for this position?" Zorba tossed the half-eaten rat into the corner, placing his full attention on me.

"I wish my lord to look into the entrance hall, at the three dead guards that decided to challenge me." I steered my eyes into the black holes of Zorba.

After that, there was an utter look of amusement. "That was you?" It sends chills down your spine to hear a Hutt laugh. "All right. I will give you the position of my bounty hunter, if you can survive the gauntlet for one week." With that, he motioned for one of his dancer girls to bring me closer to him.

"If you can keep this piece of information to yourself, and not tell the gauntlet-master, you will receive that place at my side. Now, you must not tell the gauntlet-master…" he whispered in a rare Huttese dialect, for my ears alone. His tongue flickered a bit in my ear, filling it with Hutt slime. I did not move one muscle; any sign of movement could be interpreted as weakness, not a good sign for a potential bounty hunter.

With another hand motion, the same dancer came forward, guiding me to a small room to the side of Zorba's throne. She placed my belongings in the corner of the room. Guiding me out of my armour, she proceeded to take off the tunic that I wore underneath the Mandolian gear; her fingers caressed the muscles of my back as she slid her hands underneath my tunic. Taking my hands, she tied them together and secured the rope to a support in the ceiling so that I wasn't touching the floor, not even with my toes; the foreign posture strained my shoulders. With that, she left, her hips swinging from side to side as she walked.

Now that I was on my own, I placed myself in the calm place that Mara Jade and I had worked on. I slowed my breathing, closed my eyes, and sunk myself into the state of nothingness. I was so focused that I did not even feel the presence of the gauntlet-master. Only when he blindfolded me, did I realize that someone else was here. He sunk the tip of a knife into my torso, right at the bottom of my breast bone.

The knife was unnaturally sharp; it cut through my skin like a hot knife through bantha fur. It was like an annoying twitch. It was when he began to draw the knife slowly down into a little design, did fire entered my core. The place of calm within me shattered; pain vibrated my very body. I shook at the pain, making the rope pull into my wrists.

"So, little one." The gauntlet-master withdrew the blade; my gasping echoed off the sandstone walls. "What did Zorba entrust you with? Surely it cannot be worth the pain you feel now, is it?" I clenched the muscles of my jaw together; I made an internal promise to myself to not talk, not even a gasp, for the next week.

"You don't feel like talking to me yet? That's fine with me." He drew his blade again, down my spine and between my shoulders. I grunted at the pain, but no scream, nothing came from me. This continued for another hour. By the end of it, my back, torso, and arms were covered in strange symbols; blood was dripping a trail down the length of my bared torso. My body was heaving, but I had only grunted and gasped at the pain.

"You know, Zorba likes listening to my patients scream; he finds it pleasurable. It seems as though you are going to deny my master that treat." In the background, I could smell wood burning. "However, there are ways of making my master pleased, in the end." Without another word, he pressed a white-hot blade against one of the bleeding sigils on my back. The mental promise shattered in my mind; I screamed with the full power of my lungs.

"That's more like it, isn't it?" He continued to cauterize the bleeding symbols with his sword until they were permanently scarred onto my body. By then, he had tortured me for the entire day. With unwonted gentleness he untied my hands from the ceiling, making me fall to the ground. He removed the blindfold, and then let the door close behind him.

I made myself crawl into the corner of the room, and collapsed. The pain radiating off the burns consumed my being. However, Mara Jade had taught me well; I did not cry out in pain. Rather, I let the pain flow over me, like waves breaking on a beach. Soon the pain receded enough for me to get up and kneel; I had to get back into that meditative trance, in order for my body to heal.

A knock came at the door. "Come in," I called out with my eyes closed. With hardly a sound, the same dancer that had tied me up came back in. "The gauntlet-master has requested that I come to heal you, so that you will be ready for tomorrow's session." Her voice was soft, but there was a hint of steel in it.

Looking up and down the dancer, I replied, "As you wish." With that, she helped me walk to the sandstone bed close to where I had collapsed. She took a small clay jar from behind her back, and covered my back and torso with an ointment; I could smell its spicy scent from above me. Carefully, she worked the ointment into the burns on my back. It was so soothing, like warm water was gently being poured onto each bloody design on my body.

"What is your name?" I asked her as she carefully wiped off some of the excess ointment. She did not answer; her blue-grey eyes concentrated on her work. I grabbed her hand, feeling the resist. "I won't hurt you. My name is Anakin. Please, what's your name?"

"Jadis; Jadis Gelana is my name. I was bought as a slave by Zorba's father, and was trained as a dancer. When he was assassinated, Zorba commanded me to become one of his dancer girls, in return for my freedom." She looked at me; her quiet voice almost challenged me not to notice her. For the first time that night, I felt something other that pain: love. I saw in her eyes that she felt the same. The almond-shaped eyes gazed at me with utter desire; her voluptuously streamlined body quivered slightly when she looked at me.

Without another word, she and I kissed. It was not like the light dutiful kisses I had given Leia or Mara on their cheeks, but a wish of desires unfulfilled. Dropping the lotion, she and I went into a passionate embrace, falling on top of each other. Fumbling with our clothes, we made love to each other for most of the night. Her long black braid wrapped around us, intertwining with my horsetail of curly brown locks.

As I listened to Jadis' slow even breathing, I pulled out the memoirs of my mother from the discarded tunic in the corner. I needed some comfort, some reassurance that I would get through this.


	17. Her Choice

_In secret, I drew out pictures of Anakin. Feelings stirred in my heart every time I looked at him. I did not know what they were, only that they were distracting from the present. His sketched face seemed almost to encourage me as he did in real life. As colours blended to create holographic portraits, I hid them in the bottom of my weapons kits; it turned out that it had a false bottom, perfect for storing things like that. After I had finished the pictures, I felt calmer and more focused; in hindsight, I realized that I loved him. But he was married, so my passion went unsated. But that was fine.  
_

_I headed back to Coruscant on leave, Anakin and Master Kenobi with me. Kenobi left soon after to chase down General Grievous, and Anakin stayed for his secret wife. Late at night during the second week, I was taking a walk around the Temple grounds before going to bed, my satchel on my shoulder. I was making my way back to the Temple's center spire, when I spied Anakin leave the Council room's spire and head to the hangar bay in a hurry. Worried for him, I followed him into the hanger bay. Now quick to start up the _Gambit_, I followed Anakin from a distance through the busy night-time traffic._

_When I caught up with him, I found that he had parked his ship on the landing platform of the Senatorial buildings. He got out of his ship and began to run into the main building. I landed my ship next to his, and I continued to follow him, my blue-grey eyes never leaving their target. Instinct kicked in and I drew my lightsaber. Two black blades shone from my saber, and I kept running after Anakin._

_Anakin led me to the residence chambers of the Supreme Chancellor. I saw the four bodies of the remaining Jedi Masters littering the crimson carpet, marred by the execution-style strikes of a lightsaber. My focus turned into the main foyer of the Chancellor's office. The main bay window was missing. Anakin had just sliced off the arm of Master Windu, and the Chancellor began to kill him, electricity flying from the tips of his fingers that propelled Windu to his death._

_I saw the Supreme Chancellor slowly standing up from the floor near the window. Both his face and voice had seemed to have aged almost fifty years since I last saw him at my flight test. Anakin stumbled backwards and sank onto a nearby cushioned seat, his lightsaber deactivating and falling from his hand. I heard him cry out, "What have I done?" His voice was doused in anguish. I could not believe what had just taken place._

_I ran up to Anakin, not caring anymore about my silent following. I turned off my lightsaber, disbelief coloring my face. My face drained of its color, and my eyes subtly changed from a blue-grey to a pained pure black when I saw his face._

_Utter shock and disbelief was written all over Anakin's face. I felt crushed: Anakin was the strongest person that I knew. What had happened to him? I placed my hand on his shoulder; he acted as if he did not acknowledge my presence. Palpatine stood up before us. A croaky voice filled the air. "You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin. Become my apprentice. Learn to use the dark side of the Force."_

_"I will do whatever you ask. Just help me save Padmé's life. I can't live without her," Anakin replied, looking at the Chancellor with a mix of determination and fear._

_"To cheat death is a power only one has achieved, but if we work together, I know we can discover its secret."_

_Anakin got off of his seat, shrugging my hand off his shoulder in the process, and dropped to his knees at the feet of Palpatine. "I pledge myself to your teachings." After that statement, his face hardened into an emotionless mask._

_"Good. The Force is strong with you. A powerful Sith, you will become. Henceforth, you will be known as Darth Vader."_

_"Thank you, my Master."_

_The Chancellor then turned towards me. "Why have you come here, child?" I dropped to one knee before him, and looked down to the ground. I could not make myself look at this decrepit old man, once the man that had inspired me but now disgusted me. My face formed a stoic expression, to avoid releasing my feelings and my fear in an explosion from what has just occurred. I knelt before this man, knowing that Anakin would destroy himself if he went through this alone.  
_

_"I wish to follow in your service, my Lord." I felt Anakin stir in surprise beside me, but this was my life and I could do what I wanted with it.  
_

_"Good. What is your name?"_

_"Lieutenant Suri Organa, daughter of Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, my Lord."_

_"Good."_

_"But, my Lord, I am afraid that I am not strong in the ways of the Force."_

_"That is fine. You and Darth Vader will both become my apprentices: Darth Vader in the ways of the dark side of the Force, you, Suri, in the ways of unarmed and armed combat."_

_"Thank you, my Master."_

_Anakin and I both knelt at the feet of our new Master. "Arise, my apprentices." As we did so, the Chancellor walked slowly behind his desk. "I now know that the Jedi are traitors and enemies of the Republic; they wish to take control of the Senate for themselves. We must move quickly to dismantle their Order. Your first command is to seize the Jedi Temple. Kill every Jedi that stands in your way. Show no mercy, do not spare any one; even the young ones will die if they stand in your way._

_"Once that is done, we must destroy what remains of the Separatist leaders. Travel to the Mustafar system, and take care of the leaders. Once more the Sith will rule the galaxy, and we will have peace." From under his desk, the Chancellor tossed me a small black hooded cloak, which I donned immediately. Anakin and I turned to leave to fulfill our new duties to our new Master._


	18. His Torture

After examining the transcript, I woke Jadis from her slumber. Jumping from her sleep, she and I helped each other back into our clothes; straightening and primping our appearances, we prepared ourselves for whatever today would bring.

The next day, the gauntlet-master kicked my back when he found me huddled in a corner. Without a word, he tied me up to the ceiling, and began to mark my skin with strange sigils with the knives and burn them into my skin. Again, it lasted all day; again at night, Jadis would come to heal and comfort me in sleep.

On the third and fourth days, his pattern differed. To greet me, he kicked me in the back when he found me huddled on a corner of my sleeping mat. "Here: put this on," he instructed me to don a sensory deprivation suit. Once it was securely on my body, it blocked out my sight and sound; I felt small padded speakers covering my ears. The gauntlet-master helped me down to the ground and closed the door behind him. Once he left, a medium-pitched noise flooded my ears. I tried to block it out, but the noise only increased in volume as I struggled. Finally, I realized to go, once again, into the trances that Mara Jade had created with me; with that, the noise began to flow over my body like water.

Once almost ten hours in the suit had passed, the gauntlet-master came back in. I knew this because, once he entered the room, the sound stopped. He ripped the mask and suit off, and tossed a bucket of freezing water at me. The shock of the water made my senses become alert once more. Without even a word, the gauntlet-master left a plate of stale bread and water and closed the door again.

Those nights, Jadis snuck back into my room. This time, all we did was sleep next to one another; I enjoyed the way that her body moulded into mine, making a human pillow. She kept asking me, "Why are you doing this, Anakin?" I had no answer for her, for my reasons were purely personal: to find out whom Anakin Organa Solo really was.

Again, as Jadis slept in my arms, I read more into my mother's life. By now, the parallels that I thought once existed between the circumstances of our lives had dissolved. My mother and I were nothing alike.


	19. Her Transformation

_Leading the 501st squadron of Clonetroopers, Anakin and I marched on the Temple. I activated my lightsaber, protruding my black blades from their encasement. With that action, I started to kill any Jedi in my sight. All of their rude comments, their teasing, and their whispers about me, all fuelled me in the attack. Since I had modified my fighting style to accommodate the lightsaber, the Jedi I faced were shocked at my skills, and their blows rarely breached my defence. I just could not die in this assault, no matter how hard they tried. _

_Anakin personally saw to it that all of the Younglings were killed, mostly by his own hands. I got in my fair share of Jedi kills in. I especially enjoyed personally killing the Padawans who were the leaders of the crowd that had constantly and maliciously teased me during my stay at the Temple._

_After the majority of the Jedi had been killed, and their bodies lay broken and defeated on the marble floors, Anakin and I left the fight. We commandeered our ships towards our second and final destination: the Mustafar system, to complete our second task of finishing off all of the Separatist leaders._

_When we landed on the platform, Anakin and I turned to enter the main building, simultaneously covering our heads with our hoods from the cloaks we wore, in order to hide our faces. The Separatists welcomed us, saying that they had been expecting us. Anakin and I drew out our lightsabers, and began the assault. When we were through, all of the Separatist leaders were laying on the floor, never to get up again. We left the building, Anakin through one door, and I back to my ship at the bidding of Anakin. I flew off to land somewhere else._

_It took me a good fifteen minutes to find a place far from the lava. I ended up landing high upon a lava-licked shore, far from the central building. I sat in my ship, unclasped my cloak, and began to apply bacta to my burns. One of the blows had managed to both shatter and burn my left ankle. So I bandaged that up with strips of cloth soaked in bacta for the burn, but no amount of bacta could heal an interior wound. I placed my satchel of belongings around my left shoulder, its familiar feeling calming me. I pulled out my data pad, and began to read about the Mustafar system. Occasionally, I felt a burst of intense anger that filled my body up. It was extremely painful, but I was grateful that it only happened a few times._

_I looked out my cockpit window. Above a swiftly flowing river of lava that lay before to me, hovered two figures in combat. One of them I recognized as Anakin. Steam rose up from the river, not allowing me to identify the other. One thing was for sure: the other figure was a Jedi, because his blue lightsaber glowed in the hellish landscape. Anakin jumped off the raft to try and continue his fight on land. His attacker rolled his lightsaber under Anakin, and my mentor fell to the ground. _

_I jumped out of my ship, and began to run towards Anakin. My ankle began to swell and inflame, but I paid it no heed. I ran barefoot over the sizzling ash and volcanic rock. I reached Anakin, my black clothes and my darkening skin camouflaging me in the beach._

_Anakin was in extreme pain. His lower legs and his other arm had been cut off by his enemy's lightsaber. He was groaning at the intense pain and his attacker. He shouted curses at everything around him, even me. I paid it no heed; I knew that it was the pain talking. Only with the grip of his cybernetic arm, did he manage not to fall into the river of lava. I looked him in the face. Sweat poured down his brow. Anakin's eyes were no longer a deep icy blue, but a weak red, almost the color of watered down blood; yellow and black flecks were striated along the outside of his irises._

_The attacker left over the hill. I did not even try to pursue him. Instead, I grabbed Anakin's cybernetic hand in my own. He looked up at me. "Br…Suri?" he said before he started a fresh bout of screaming, as his cut off limbs caught on fire. The cords in his neck popped out from all of his screaming. I slid down next to him. By doing this, I rubbed my body with his. As a result, my legs and my mechanic arm caught on fire._

_It was excruciating. The fire crawled slowly up my legs and down my robotic arm. My throat ripped in one fresh scream after another, but it was my choice to suffer with Anakin, not his decision. So, I had to face the consequences of that choice. The flames cleanly extinguished themselves right about at my knees and at the end of the cybernetics on my arm. My legs were burnt to ash. The cybernetics in my arm was destroyed. The frame was holding its shape, but just barely. The wiring of the arm was now oblivion. I would need it to be re-calibrated and re-wired, in order for me just to have function in it again. I squeezed my pain out on my steadily weakening grip in Anakin's hand._

_Suddenly, I heard voices. "Hurry! Hurry! Look, they're still alive." The Emperor, our master, came over the hill. He turned to the Clone sharpshooters accompanying him, "Get two medical capsules immediately!" Once the sharpshooters left, the frail Emperor walked down the hill, and knelt beside Anakin and me. He bent over and carefully placed his hand on Anakin's burnt forehead. He then looked over me, looking almost in pity at the two of us._

_Anakin and I were carefully positioned inside of the medical capsules; oxygen masks were placed over our faces. Anakin was covered from head to cut off limb in severe third degree burns. Parts of his face were no longer recognizable. I guess I got it lucky with only two burnt off legs and a busted cybernetic forearm. We were flown back to the medical rehab centre on Imperial Coruscant. _

_When we arrived at the centre, we were both placed on metal tables. Med droids came around him and started to poke and probe his burnt body. Anakin nearly screamed out his lungs from of the staggering amount of pain that he was experiencing. The pain did not subside as the droids began to reconfigure his body, to try to remedy the damage that had been done. My mentor went under extensive cybernetic surgery to replace his burnt limbs. He was placed inside of a special suit, which acted like a metal lung for him. Finally, a black helmet was placed on his head, and locked into place. I heard the mechanic breathing begin. I have never forgotten that sound._

_While Anakin's surgery was taking place, I was going under reconstructive surgery myself. I was restrained to a metal table. Several other healers were replacing my burnt legs with more cybernetics. They poked and prodded the base of my stumps with hot needles; I grimaced and screamed in pain, only imagining that this is what it must have felt like for Anakin. The pain got no better when they attached the new metal components directly to my bones, nerves, and muscles. At least before, I was unconscious while they attached the forearm. But that small mercy was not granted to me this time. _

_The droids replaced the cybernetics in my forearm with more advanced systems. The maintenance droid gave me a new guard, identical to the one that I had before. After the cybernetic lower legs were complete, the droids supplied me with black leather guards, which were welded on to protect my new cybernetic legs from the environment._

_Once the reconstructive surgeries were complete, Anakin and I were released from the slabs. "Lord Vader, can you hear me?" the Emperor asked, ignoring me for the moment._

_"Yes, my Master." His voice was mechanic, hollow sounding; it was as different from his old voice as day was from night. Looking around, he asked, "Where is Padmé? Is she safe? Is she alright?"_

_"It seems, in your anger, you killed her."_

_"I… I couldn't! She was alive! I felt it!" Anger and shock filled Anakin, and he refused to believe what or Master had told him. Anakin had now lost everything: his wife, his friends, his body, his freedom; all had been sacrificed to complete his transformation to the dark side of the Force. It appeared to me that the Emperor had almost planned for all of this to happen as it did. But I kept that thought to myself._

_"Suri," the Emperor now turned to me._

_"Yes, Master?" I flexed my new forearm, fresh from the droids' repairs._

_"You will accompany Grand Moff Tarkin; he is your commander now. Do not disappoint me!"_

_"I won't, Master."_

_The Emperor ordered Anakin on board the __Executor, the battleship that would later become the flagship of his Imperial fleet. I was promoted to the rank of captain under Grand Moff Tarkin, becoming his personal interrogator. I was given a small room with a bed, wash basin, and nothing else. My small set of weapons became augmented with whips, more knives, poisons, electro-manacles, restraint collars, and the access keycards to the med ward. The next twenty years of service were the longest years of my life._


	20. His Reward

The final day of my gauntlet arrived; growing desperate, the gauntlet-master had a new challenge for me. He tied me up again; stripped of my tunic, I had to endure countless hours in agony while he simply punched and kicked me. His gloves and boots had iron spikes on them; when they hit my skin, new rivulets of blood would flow down my body.

My left eye had four holes above it, giving additional pain to the black-eye already there. My torso and back were decorated with new holes, in additions to the many sigils that were already burnt there. He had come close to cutting open my neck when he had punched my jaw.

Finally, I had had enough. While his back was turned when he was drinking something out of a canteen, I pulled myself up and twisted my feet around his neck. Not expecting it, he tried to remove my feet with a simple shrug of his shoulders. With a slight contortion of my body, his neck snapped like a twig. At the sound, Jadis came running into the room.

"Anakin!" She ran up to me, caressing my new wounds. Turning behind her, she gasped in shock at the sight of the almighty gauntlet-master, his neck jutted out in an unnatural position.

Clearing my head, I helped Jadis calm down. "Reach into my bag, and get my hunting knife." When I felt the knife in my hand, I managed to cut my bonds. Falling to the ground, Jadis splashed warm water onto my cuts, sluicing the blood out. "Please, help me into my armour," I asked her, pointing to the corner where Jadis had originally placed the pieces before the gauntlet began. Moving slowly, she helped me to don the pieces, so not to aggravate my open wounds and burns.

Once my armour was on, I straightened up the best that I could. "Thank you, Jadis." I grabbed her and kissed her on the lips. With that, I opened the door, hauling the carcass of the gauntlet master behind me. Walking before Zorba, I tossed the body of the feared gauntlet-master in front of his throne, and knelt once more at Zorba's feet.

"What is this?" Zorba asked sarcastically. Again he had a rat in his hands: this time it was still alive and writhing in his grip.

"It is proof, my lord, that I have completed your test successfully. I have not said a word to the gauntlet-master; your secret has remained safe with me." I kept my head up, looking towards Zorba at all times; blood dripped down from my forehead, sparking pain in my black eye.

"Come here," Zorba motioned with his hand to walk over the corpse and stand beside him. He wiped his hand across my eye, collecting the blood and sweat. "You will be a fine bounty hunter; I am honoured to have you at my side." With that, he stuck his hand in his mouth, taking obvious delight in tasting the salty blood. So began my career as a bounty hunter and translator, and Zorba's protector.

Everyday for the next ten years, I would don my Mandolian armour, piece by piece. I would leave my hair in a horsetail; I would polish my sea blue sapphire ear drop to a shine. I made it a habit to keep all of my blades on the inside of my forearm's armour; it made for a quick and easy retrieval. On my utility belt, I kept my blaster, toxic dart gun, and translator device. The staff that I had made, I kept in my room: it was not a good weapon to use in close combat.

My post allowed me to stand next to Zorba; I knew this spot was granted to the elite within his service. By simply talking to the people of Zorba, I could delve into their minds and reveal information to Zorba that some of these shallow-minded people did not even know that they had. My powers allowed me to coerce resistive members to submit to Zorba's will before they did something stupid. With the passing of every month, Zorba gave me a pay of three thousand credits, along with some token of his gratitude.

Almost every night in my service with Zorba, Jadis came into my room. There, I would worship her beautiful streamlined body; her blue-grey, almond-shaped eyes that shone like the dusky sky; her long braided black hair that smelled of the jasmine that she rubbed in it every day; her skin the color of the roasted nuts that I ate after my duties were over for the day. Her down to earth attitude washed away all of the stress of the day, all of the mindless drabble of the court. The chemistry between us grew stronger every time we looked at each other.

One of the nights about four years into my service, I turned over in my bed. Jadis stared back at me with her pleasure-glazed eyes. Her smile unravelled me as we looked at one another underneath my blanket.

"Jadis," I pulled a small box from underneath my pillow.

"Yes, Anakin?" She did not notice my hands, only my brown curls as she ran her hands through it.

"Jadis, will you marry me?" I opened up the box. She gasped; inside was a gold ring embedded with a sapphire, her favourite stone.

She did not answer; she simply slid the ring onto her finger and began to bestow her kisses on my weathered face again. That night, we were married. Our only trouble was to keep this from the court, or else we would both be humiliated and jeered at. I would be unfit for my post; who knew what would happen to Jadis if the lecherous hunters and low-lives of the court got their hands on her.

Every night, we came to one another to sleep. During the day, we acted indifferently towards each other. For the sake of our lives, we acted as though we did not know each other. Only at night would our marriage ensue. Two young people in love: it was a formula for everlasting happiness in my book.

My mother's memoirs were proceeding into the time that I was patiently reading towards: her time as a captain of the Imperial Forces. This is the time in which my mother changed from a carefree pilot trying to find her way to a cold-hearted soldier, an automaton of the Imperial war machine. Something had transformed my mother and the transmitter on my palm held the key to the puzzle.


	21. Her Friend, Part I

_Just as the Emperor promised, he trained me in the ways of combat. Not himself, personally, but I fought against the Stormtroopers and many of the cadets at the Academy. He was a harsh master when I was ordered to report my progress on Coruscant. Nothing less than perfection was demanded of me. Often times, I failed. The officers on board the Death Star would always see me in the medical ward being healed from my broken bones and dislocated joints after such visits. No one would come to my aid, and the one person that I relied on was halfway across the galaxy. _

_Grand Moff Tarkin was a sadistic man. For the prisoners that I was forced to interrogate, he would stand to one side as I tearfully applied my knives and the whips to the unfortunate. If Tarkin saw me emotional, he would slap me across the face and then call in the interrogation droid, making me watch as the victim screamed in utter agony. I swear that he must have gotten off on it, but it was worse than horrible for me to bear. I was ashamed of myself and of my non-ability to stop the torture, but I did not want to die. That was the inevitable fate that awaited me if I failed in my duty. _

_I can still hear the screams in my sleep. I tried to empty myself of emotion during those times, but I could not block out the sights. Women and men screaming, children crying for their parents, the blood on my hands… Nothing ever escapes me anymore. Once my service was over, I woke up with bad dreams for five years later; I would leap from my bed and cover my mouth so as not to wake my son, but the lightning and the screams never faded away._

_There was one time in my service that I saw Darth Vader again, eighteen years after his immolation. By all reports, Anakin Skywalker was completely gone by now. Darth Vader was a heartless, cruel man- no, more machine than man. He became synonymous with fear, with destruction, with the cruel strength of the Emperor._

_The Emperor summoned me onto the _Executor,_ Darth Vader's flagship. Knowing that I had no choice, I gathered up my belongings and flew over to the ship. As I entered the main cabin, I saw Vader again. I saw no sign that he recognized me as I bowed before my superiors; krit, I wouldn't have recognized myself after all that time. _

_On the ground was a young man, maybe fifteen years old. He was dressed in well-worn clothes, but I could make out the armor that he wore. From where I stood, I could make out a lightsaber wound in his stomach; Vader had pierced him with his blade. That boy had very little time left to live._

_"Behold, Captain Organa, the price of if you fail in your services." Emperor Palpatine tossed Vader an evil look before he lifted the young man on the ground and tossed him around like a rotten piece of fruit using the Force before launching him out the ship's bay window._

_"Now you understand, don't you?" The Emperor turned on me. "Nothing but complete obedience will suit my purposes."_

_"But, Master, I am always obedient to your will." That was true; why else was I torturing innocents except because my master ordered it._

_"Your thoughts betray you, Captain." Force lightening came out of his fingertips, shoving me into the floor for my punishment. "You care for your victims, feeling empathy unworthy of an Imperial officer." The voltage of the lightening increased for a short increment, frying my circuits._

_"Master, may I ask something of you?" Vader spoke up as I panted against the floor, the shock of the electricity flowing through my body still causing me pain. _

_"What is it, Lord Vader?" The Emperor was frustrated as I slowly got to my knees._

_"I would like to take command of Captain Organa for six months time. I have prisoners on board that need… persuasion in giving up their true allegiances." Without a word, the Emperor walked past me, but not before kicking me in the back to land before Vader._

_"She's your problem now. Return her to Tarkin when you're finished with her." When the Emperor left the room, Vader looked down at me._

_"Make your way to the _Empirical._ Once you have arrived, await my orders." There was no sympathy in his voice, no empathy. He didn't care, not one iota. _

_"As you wish, my lord." Getting back to my feet, I limped out of the room and made my way back to the _Gambit _to fly to my temporary assignment._

_When I arrived at the _Empirical_, the surprise of my life was waiting for me. The same boy that Vader had just killed was strapped to a medical table. Was Vader trying to bring him back to life? Good luck with that…_

_For six months, I watched over the boy. From the boy's droid guardian, I learned that his name was Starkiller, and that he was Vader's apprentice. Vader had raised him from a boy into a Sith assassin. However, his future was unclear. For now, my circuits needed repairs, so I let the droids upgrade my cybernetics while others worked on reviving the boy._

Without anyone's knowledge, I made a hologram of Starkiller as he slept. A face normally relaxes and gives the semblance of looking younger while it rests. Starkiller looked like a warrior, through and through. The brutal life as Vader's apprentice had chiselled and made his face severe and angular, his brown eyes hard and icy. His brown hair was shorn close to his head, showing off more scars. His body was covered in old scars from lightsaber duels. Yet, there was a hint of something as he relaxed, something pure. I could never tell what it was until six months later after his release.

_The Emperor called me again to his side after two months, this time to the Death Star, his new battle station. I watched with uncaring eyes as my father and three other co-conspirators were convicted of treason and sedition. My own father didn't even recognize me as I stood there. I guarded the Emperor as Starkiller freed the prisoners and fought Vader, sacrificing himself in order to free the others._

_Vader and Palpatine stood over the young man's corpse as he laid there in the midst of an explosion of Force lightening. Palpatine glared at Vader for allowing himself to become injured like that, and then barked at me to dispose of the body._

_I did as I was ordered. I gathered up the body of the first leader of the Rebellion and placed it in an escape pod on the lower levels of the Death Star. I straightened out his clothes and placed his lightsaber in his hands before launching him to Kashyyyk, his home world according to what I was able to slice out of the confidential records._


	22. Her Friend, Part II

_It happened to be a stroke of luck when the Emperor called me to report on my training progress. At that time, the first Death Star was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance, leaving everyone on board for dead including the Grand Moff; I was beyond relieved to never have to see his ugly mug again. The Emperor took his fury out on me when he felt the disturbance in the Force; someone so strong in the Force had destroyed his creation, the station that had taken twenty years to completely build. After I laid on the ground bleeding steadily but never crying (he hated it when I cried, only inflicting more pain until I learned to stop), he ordered me to my next post: Bast Castle on the planet Vjun, as the confidante to the Lord Vader. I was under his aegis now, to do whatever Vader ordered me to do without question and to treat him with the proper level of respect and fear as was due to the Emperor._

_I had learned to move quickly when the Emperor ordered, but that day, I was walking slowly from my injuries. With one good eye (the other was swollen shut), I packed my belongings in my trunk and headed to my ship. Setting the coordinates to Vjun, I wrapped bacta-soaked bandages around my wounds. They would suffice until I reached my new post. Only a nice long session in a bacta tank would help me now._

_Vader was waiting for me in the docking bay. He looked as menacing as ever in his suit, but he rushed to my side as I almost collapsed from the pain of my newest set of wounds. Gently pushing him away, I saluted; the Emperor's teaching was engraved in my mind. "Captain Suri Organa, reporting for duty, sir!" Despite the indifferent expression of his mask, I could feel him grimace at the sight of me this way. My uniform was crisp, but my unattended broken arm stayed at my side. The bruises on my face, neck, and arms were evident even with the long sleeves and the high collar of my uniform jacket. Unaware to Vader, my back was riddled with the semi- and unhealed burns of Force lightning that the Emperor used frequently._

_What was with the sudden show of caring now? He didn't care before when I was tortured in front of him after Starkiller was killed the first time. What was so different now?_

_"Suri, here, I am your friend. Here, the Emperor will never find you." He ran a finger along my bruised cheek. When I winced, he gathered me in his arms as I blacked out from the pain. I just remember a sudden ringing in my ears as the pain overwhelmed my senses._

_I awoke in the medical ward, an oxygen mask over my face. My uniform was off in place of my old black pants and a breast band. I felt the bandages on my face, the air-casts on my arm and ankles. My shoulder and finger were braced to heal the dislocations. Vader was sitting next to me, waking for me to me, he almost seemed worried, concerned. The part of me that was twisted by the Emperor's sessions wanted to learn more, but the rest of my broken body resisted and simply gave up the struggle._

_"Suri." My face did not hurt as much as I turned my head to face him. I tried to sit up to talk, but Vader pushed me back down against the bed. With no strength left to defy him, I leaned against the pillows and stared at him through my good eye. "You're going to go through a bacta-tank session to heal. I need you for the fight ahead."_

_My voice was so hoarse, but I managed to speak up. "What fight? Has the Emperor sanctioned it?" I was curious, but fear of the Emperor kept me in my place._

_"No, Suri. I'm going to defeat the Emperor, but I need your help." With one quick movement, he removed his mask. I tried to stop him; that mask was the only thing keeping him alive. As he gently shoved my hands aside, shock filled me up when I saw no scars on his face, no burn marks from the horrible episode on Mustafar. He was Anakin once more, at least physically. His brown hair was curling still, but grey was beginning to set in at his temples. A cocky smile, Anakin's trademark, decorated his face as I raised my fingers to inspect his face. This was no illusion: Darth Vader was no more._

_"How?" That was the only word. "How is this possible? I saw you burn..." Memories of that day on Mustafar burned into my mind. This had to be a trick, one of the Emperor's illusions. My fist slammed against the bed; didn't I serve my Master well enough over the years? What had I done to deserve this?_

_Anakin turned his face away for a moment, but told me gently. "I have a daughter, Suri. Ten years ago, I slept with one of the servant girls here on Vjun. I didn't even know that she was pregnant until I discovered the girl as the Emperor's slave. She secretly learned to know me as her father, and she used the Force to heal me. She could never be Sith; I won't let anyone corrupt her. But for this, I need your help."_

_I was so weak, but Anakin told the doctor to treat my wounds with the utmost haste. Within one day, thanks to the bacta, my wounds were healed enough for me to function. I would bear the scars, but at least they would not hinder me in this most recent mission. Anakin told me the plan once I was considered strong enough to understand. He was going to kill the Emperor and rescue his daughter, A'Marie. However, the galaxy was not ready for the Lord Vader's new leaf, and so he would go into hiding with his daughter. My role was to give him one of the poisons that I still had that would slow his heart down. I would go to the Rebels and give them his helmet and lightsaber as proof of death. _

_It was a good plan. I just hoped it would work according to Anakin's will._


	23. His Choice

After that episode, I put the memoirs away for a long time. My mother had aided in the interrogations of countless innocents, and yet she felt sorrow in that act. She had tortured children, and yet she tried to repent? My mother was a complicated woman, but even I could see that something nothing could be done to erase the past.

Five years after my inception as Zorba's bounty hunter, some ballsy rogue hunter was allowed to enter Zorba's court for a petition. It was his turn to come before my ward; I stood at Zorba's shoulder, the weapons on my belt displayed prominently for everyone to see.

"And what do you ask of me, puny human?" Zorba was bored; I could tell by the lethargic way he moved his hand. He did not necessarily enjoy this part of the day, but it was a tradition that was begun by his grandfather; no matter how bored he was, he must keep with the tradition.

"Just this!" With that, the bounty hunter tossed an active thermal detonator in front of the throne. Moving quickly, I grabbed the bomb and tossed it of the palace. However, I was not quick enough; my left hand was completely burned in the process. It was not severe, but the top layers of skin were seared off; I could not feel the pain since some of the nerves were burnt off. Working quickly, Jadis took me into my room before the shock overtook my system.

Before the door was closed, I could see the bounty hunter being restrained to the floor by multiple Gamorreans. With dread, I realized that I recognized the wannabe assassin: it was Jacen. Dread created a pit in my stomach; it would be my duty to torture Jacen until he died, or revealed the reason behind the attack.

"Anakin! Why did you do this?" Sitting me down on the bed, Jadis was covering my hand in the same ointment that she had used on my burnt sigils. Her belly, we both knew, carried our child; she estimated that she would give birth in under a month. I knew that she was worried about raising a child in a court of danger and intrigues, but what could I do to circumvent my oath?

"It's my duty, my love. I have to do this," I winced as she wrapped my hand in bandages, sliding a leather guard over it for added protection. "I swore an oath to Zorba to protect him!"

"But why must you risk yourself for him?" Jadis began to pace before me, tears began to fall from her face. For that, I had no answer. She had come into my room every night to be with me. More than once, she had come to nurse my injuries.

"I must see to the prisoner, Jadis." I stood up, caressing her face with my hand. "I promise you, we will be free of Zorba. I promise you!" With that, I embraced her body against me, allowing her to cry on my armour. "We must be brave, love." Kissing her, I left my room, walking to the prison to see Jacen.

"What do you want, my traitorous brother?!" Jacen spat at my feet as soon as I had locked the door. His wrists were restrained to the wall with old-fashioned shackles. Around his neck was an electro-collar. Blood seeped from his hair into his eyes.

This was not the Jacen that I had lived with; the man that I knew would never take risks like that, always thinking everything through before going through with them. How had he sunk into this haggard shadowed man, his hank of greasy hair threatening to cover his eyes from the results of his actions?

"I want to know why you decided to know a thermal detonator in front of a notorious crime lord's throne, Jacen. Not quite a Jedi thing to do, is it?" Against the wall was the control panel for his collar; I pressed the button. A powerful shock wave contorted his body.

"Why should you care, you traitor? My father takes you in, gives you a good life and you throw it back at his feet! He hasn't been the same since you left, did you know that?" I tried to hold my emotions in check, but a twinge of guilt must have covered my face. Jacen scoffed at me.

"No, you probably didn't. He waits for you to come home, to continue to be the son that he always wanted. He ignores me; I'm just a Jedi, not the pilot he wanted or the smuggler to take his place.

"And now I find you here, in the court of the son of the one who had my father imprisoned in carbonite! He lost over a year of his life in that hell!" Jacen's eyes were wild, fierce. Something was wrong with him. He had drastically changed from the calm Jedi Knight to this maniac bounty hunter.

"Who put you up to it, Jacen?" He gave me no response, other than spitting in my face. Regretting my every move, I withdrew my blades from my forearm, and ripped off his coarsely-made shirt. Around his neck still hung the good luck amulet that I had given him over ten years ago.

Just like what the torture master had done to me, I began to draw sigils all over his arms and torso. His screams resonated in the little metal cell, begging me to stop. I wanted to, but I couldn't; my vow to Zorba was my life. I could not transgress against that oath and still work for Zorba or even live afterwards.

After ten agonizing minutes for the both of us, I stopped. Jacen was panting from the pain coursing through his body; blood and tears ran down his torso and shoulders in rivulets. "Jacen, please tell me." I grabbed his face, and stared into his defeated eyes. Tears began to flow down from my eyes. "Who told you to do this?"

"No one, I swear. I don't know what I was doing. I wanted revenge for what Zorba's father did to Dad." His face was dirty and tired, but his eyes begged me to release him from the shackles. "Anakin, I'm your brother. Please, just let me go."

This was terrible for me to choose between the love of my foster brother, whom I had severed all ties from when I joined my ward's service, and the vow that controlled my life for the past ten years. Then the promise that I had made Jadis earlier this day gave me an idea.

"Jacen, I'm going to take the shackles off, but you have to stay with me tonight. Alright?" Nodding fervently, Jacen gasped at the release of the collar and the shackles. He fell from the wall, but I caught him before he hit the floor. Carrying him in my arms through a forgotten back passageway, I carted him into my room

"Anakin!" Jadis entered the room from the court. Her hand rubbed her belly in worry, proficiently swollen with new life. "What's going on?" Her eyes were filled with worry.

"We're going to get out of here, Jadis; just like I had promised. This is my foster brother, Jacen." She gasped at the wounds on his arms and torso; looking at it must have spiked the memory of our first meeting. "Please take care of him. I'm going to talk to Zorba." With a quick kiss, I closed the door behind me.

"Ah, Solo!" Zorba greeted me as I walked towards him. "Did the prisoner scream? I like hearing them scream!" His distorted face must have been the equivalent of a child receiving a birthday present. The court laughed as I nodded.

"My lord, I must petition your greatness for something, in private." I could feel eyes of everyone in the court boring into the back of my head as I knelt before my ward. The laughter died down to a murmur.

"Of course." Motioning with his hands, Zorba clumsily crawled off his platform and moved outside. He motioned for his dancer girls and band to entertain his followers. As per my station, I walked a little bit behind him with my arms crossed over my waist, my hands at the ready over my blasters.

"So, what is this petition you seek?" His black buggy eyes peered out into the second sun's set.

"My lord, I beg leave of your service."

"Why? You have served me five years without a complaint. Certainly it is not my dancer girl that upsets you?" My face blanched at this tidbit of news; how did Zorba know about my relationship with Jadis? "Ah, you did not realize that I know everything that goes on? Solo, Solo, do you really give me so little credit?"

"No, my lord. It is not Jadis that upsets me."

"Then what?"

"This day, I was forced to torture my own foster brother. I realized that I am no longer fit for this role. I beg you for my freedom, along with Jadis and my foster brother." I made sure to not mention that it was Jacen who had tried to blow up Zorba earlier that very day.

He did not talk for some time; he simply stared at the slowly setting second sun. "You ask a lot, my protector." This was the first time that Zorba had acknowledged my true role in his court.

"I know, Zorba. I simply wish to be free. You have many in your service that would kill each other for the position and the favour that I hold. Allow them to serve you. Just let me go."

Once again, the silence ensued. "It pains me, Solo. But I will grant your wishes. From now on, you, your foster brother, and Jadis Gelana are freed from my service. May she make you a good wife, my friend." We gave each other a final farewell; I was finally free to pursue my destiny. I ran back to my room to tell Jadis the good news.

"Jadis, pack your things!" I ran into a fierce embrace with her.

"Anakin, what's going on?" She pulled away from my embrace; her confused look almost scared me.

"Jadis, we're free! Zorba's granted it!" Her face was filled with delight. Kneeling with my back facing her, I placed my sharpest knife in her hands. Jadis slit open my old scar, and dug around for the micro-chip that had been implanted there.

This was a safety precaution for Zorba: if any of his slaves tried to escape, all he needed to do was press a button; this would cause the spinal cord of the person to become progressively paralyzed to the point where they could not breathe. It was harsh, but one of those chips was in every one of Zorba's court members. Once she had found and removed it, I did the same to her.

"An… Anakin?" Jacen tried to lift himself up from my bed. "What's going on?" Jadis had bandaged his wounds and placed a white tunic over the dressings.

"Jacen, it's like I told you. You're coming with Jadis and me. We're leaving, right now." I helped him sit up in bed, his legs dangling over its side. "We're going to travel back home, to Coruscant. I'm going to apologize to Han and Leia."

Within a few minutes, we were all ready to leave. The three of us did not have very many belongings: Jacen had none, Jadis and I had both a satchel of our dearest things. Making Jacen lean on me as he walked, we went outside to my ship. I placed Jadis and Jacen in the back seat, so Jadis could hold onto him as I flew. Without another wasted moment, we flew our way back to Coruscant, and my home of six years.

Both Jacen and Jadis fell asleep an hour into the ride. I had nothing left to do for a few hours. Reaching into my trunk, I pulled out my mother's memoirs. I had not read them for a long time, but I had to finish them, either now or later. It was just another thing to be completed now.


	24. Her Life

_Everything went according to plan. The Emperor was killed by Anakin's hand for all of the destruction he had ensued in the name of a false Empire. I found A'Marie and, after I assured her that I was with her father and that we were here to save her, herded her onto the _Gambit_. However, there was a Rebel prisoner in the throne room at the same time that Anakin dealt the death blow. He was Luke Skywalker, Anakin's son by Padmé. As I knelt by Anakin's side and away from the unwitting Rebel, I slipped a few drops of the poison into Anakin's mouth and watched his heart slow down. _

_Luke watched in scorn as I gently loaded Anakin's body into the same ship with A'Marie. He knew nothing, of course: all he saw was what I made him see: the death of Lord Vader and a rogue Imperial Officer loading his body into our getaway ship. I let him drive and locked myself in the back room with A'Marie._

_She was a small girl, maybe about nine or ten, but she looked so much like Anakin: brown sandy hair, ice blue eyes that observed everything and missed nothing, and the manner about her that suggested power in her fingertips. She walked up to me and looked to the comatose form of her father._

"Is my father going to be okay?"_ I was shocked when I heard her in my mind. I remembered Anakin telling me that she was injured early in life by the Emperor, rendering her unable to speak._

_"He will be, little one. My name's Suri. Yours is A'Marie." Looking to Anakin, I continued to talk. "Your father was- is- my best friend, and I was glad to help him when he helped me out in the past."_

_Anakin began to groan: the poison was finally wearing off. "A'Marie, get some water for your dad. He's going to be thirsty." Sitting on the floor next to Anakin, she levitated the pitcher of water and a glass to my hand. I was not shocked in the slightest. Anakin was a powerful Jedi in his own right; of course his children would be as well._

_Anakin sat up and put his head in his hands. "Suri, what is that stuff?" He drank the water slowly, relieving the bad taste surely left in his mouth._

_"Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I save it for the prisoners Grand Moff Tarkin wanted to execute. One drop, and they would feel no pain. Three drops, and their hearts would slow down. It's potent stuff." I did not want to re-hash the past, so I dropped the subject. "Anakin, where are you and A'Marie going to go after this? No one's going to house the Lord Vader, healed or not."_

_"We're going to use the escape pod tomorrow. I've set the coordinates to my new home. I'll tell no one, not even you, my friend." He was going to say more, but I kissed him. I shoved in all of the passion and the love that I felt for him during the years since my rescue. When we pulled away, Anakin seemed shocked, but not surprised. "I've wanted to do that so for long." I felt the blood rush to my cheeks._

_"A'Marie, can you give me and Suri a bit of alone time?" Without a word to either of us, A'Marie left the room to play in the cargo hold. We were alone, at last…_

_

* * *

_

My mother saved Lord Vader and his child… who would have known? My mother helped to mould history before the fall of the Empire. She was the best friend of the scourge of the Empire, who just happened to be my namesake? She was ordered to do so many heartless things, but she managed to find some honorable way to do them, like with the burial of Starkiller. Maybe our live were not as different as I once thought.

All my earlier beliefs of my mother as a murderer and a cold-hearted soldier were swept away as she began to find herself anew after the war. She tried to turn back to the way that she was before, and she had my foster-family to help her. My heart wrenched as I thought about my long-lost foster family, stirring tears in my eyes. Wiping them away so not to awaken the others with my crying, I read the last few pages of my mother's life.

_

* * *

_

_After Anakin and A'Marie jettisoned in the pod, I went back with Luke to the Rebel Armada; when he asked, I told him that I launched Lord Vader's body into space, a last sign of respect. We spoke no more when we turned our separate ways on the armada's flagship. I was met at blaster-point, but Luke convinced his friends that I could be trusted. _

_I approached the healers with the wish to give me back my legs. Agreeing to the procedure, they warned me beforehand that since it had been so long since I had used my legs, they might not be able to replace them. _

_The replacement of my legs was going to be a lengthy and difficult procedure. The head healer allowed me to change into a set of clothes: a loose black jacket, a pair of loose black pants, and a tight band to go around my chest. Reaching the only bench in the medical wing, I rolled up the pants up to above my mechanical knees. The lead healer attached my arm to a fluid intake machine that pumped my body full of sedatives; within seconds, I fell into a drug-induced coma._

_I do not remember what happened, so the healers allowed my one constant visitor to explain it to me once I was awake. Luke told me that after I fell asleep, the healers lifted me up onto the bed. Once I was fully asleep, they began to carefully cut away the cybernetics; after that was done; they placed the stumps of my legs into a deep bath of bacta. After that, it was simply a waiting game._

_Every day, the bones of my legs began to grow back. The muscles and nerves soon followed. Finally, my skin, still scarred from my torture from over twenty years ago, finished off the process. The entire process took nearly two weeks to complete, but I could not describe my joy when I saw my scars on the skin of my legs again._

_While I was still "under construction", Luke told me that the healers were puzzled at why they could not get my legs to register any nerve signals. One of them cautiously turned me onto my back, and removed my jacket. There, Luke saw first-hand the remnants of the torture that I had sustained when I was seventeen. The scars of the avulsions left huge ropy scars, just like the healers predicted would happen. The more recent burns of the Emperor's lightning needed healing before my reconstruction could continue. After the burns were covered with bacta, the leader of the team of healers gently palpated my lower back; replacing my jacket, and turned me back over to complete the reconstruction of my legs._

_The healers insisted that I should stay in the med centre until I could fully use my legs again. Medical professionals monitored my progress while I underwent a strenuous exercise regime of physiotherapy to help me regain the strength of my legs again. The regimen that the Rebel physicians put me through was about the same as the one that I used to do in my time at the Temple, only I had four months to gain back all of that strength._

_While I was doing the exercises in the facilities on board the medical ship, Luke brought in his friends for me to meet. First, I met his twin sister, Leia Organa, who was raised on Alderaan by my father after the birth of the Empire, and Han Solo, a Corellian smuggler for Jabba the Hutt turned Rebel captain and hero. These two were going to be married; you could easily tell from the way that they looked at one another and their body language. Next, I met Chewbacca, Han's Wookiee partner in crime, and a former captain on Kashyyyk during the Clone Wars. He was Han's best friend, following him on all of his adventures. Finally, Luke introduced me to his droids: there was C-3PO, a gold-plated protocol droid who personally drove me nuts with all of his useless chattering, and R2-D2, who was an astromech droid from the beginning of the Trade Federation blockade._

_Finally, the day came when the doctors declared my legs fully recovered. It was difficult, going from dealing with my cybernetic legs for twenty years and then going back to my old legs of skin and bone. At first, they were weak; the healers said that it was to be expected. Going through the regime, especially the running and the swimming, was excruciatingly painful. At first, I was so worried that they would not respond to the exercises and stimuli. But, slowly and surely, progress was made. The muscles were now defined and rock-hard, just like they were during my times on Alderaan and the Temple._

_On the day that the doctors had discharged me, I quietly gathered up my belongings from around my temporary home in the medical bay. I did not want to face my newly made friends, only to say goodbye. But a surprise waited for me in the hangar bay. All of them: Han, Leia, Luke, Chewie, 3PO, and R2, all of them were waiting by my ship._

_"You didn't really think that you were just going to slip away now, were you?" Han walked up to me and took my cybernetic arm in a warrior's embrace._

_"Yeah, I was."_

_"Well, now you can say your goodbyes properly!"_

_I walked up to each of them, and hugged them goodbye. Chewie was really sad to let me go; he almost choked me in his powerful hug. Leia and Luke were more subtle; they simply shook hands with me and said their farewells._

_"Oh! Before I go," I remembered just as I was about to enter my ship. "Luke!" He came forward from the group. From my satchel, I pulled out my prized hunting knife with the amber hilt. "I'm going to give this to you. Somewhere down the road of time, you'll know when it is the right time to pass it down to someone in need." With that, I got into my ship and left the Rebel Armada for good._

_With that, I flew myself back to Coruscant in my custom ship. There, I became certified as a professional Healer within four months. With this newfound skill of mine, I was able to interact with people differently than I had before; I was able to help them in their time of need. Sometimes, it was to be with them as they died. Other times, it was to simply be with them to comfort them in times of sorrow._

_During my travels, I bore a son, Anakin's son. When we finally came together, it was a match made in heaven. He finally got to grieve properly for Padmé, and I got to heal him of his old wounds. There were no apologies, no regrets. I just wished that I knew where he was, just to say goodbye one last time._

_My son looked just like my old mentor and commander, down to the scar running down his eye. His aura was intimidating, and yet it was kind at the same time. Even as a child, he acted just like my master: confident and questioning at the same time. My son was so sure of himself and so questioning of the actions of others even at that early age. To honour his memory, my son was christened Anakin Organa. _

_When Anakin was born, I landed on the desert planet of Tatooine, rather close to the spaceport of Mos Eisley. It was here that I was able to found a home for us; it turned out to be an old abandoned moisture farm. I taught Anakin and myself how to become moisture farmers. _

_We no longer wore light tunics or pants, but instead layers of heaving clothing to protect us both from the heat of the two suns and from the frequent sandstorms. We maintained the moisturizers, our only constant source of water, and we worked the sandy soil to give us some of our food supply._

_Every seventh day, we rested. On this day, I gave Anakin his education. I taught Anakin his reading, his writing, his mathematics, and his history. I taught my son the ways of healing, and also the ways of defending himself without using weapons. On top of that, I taught him how to fly the ship from the old Rebel Armada. _

_Anakin excelled in all that I taught him. In addition to his work at home, he sought out a job. He worked at an old repair shop in the spaceport. Every day, he brought home a few well-earned credits. Occasionally, I bought him a small gift, as a reward for his hard work._

_One year after we moved to Tatooine, I received a letter from Naboo. Without opening it, I knew it was from Anakin. To this day, I never opened the holocom. I will save it for my son, so he would know who his father truly is once I have gone. As of now, I tell him nothing about Anakin. _

_When I turned fifty-three, I began to notice that my body had begun to fail. I caught a severe case of influenza. I could not drag my body from my bed to tend to the chores around the house. The vital systems of my body began to shut down. I constantly felt fiery to the touch. It got so bad, that Anakin quit his job, and took care of him. He gave me pills that he stole from Mos Eisley. He made me lie down in bed and not get up. _

_Finally, he called a physician. The doctor took one look at me, and told me that I had maybe another month to live. The only thing that he could give me was a vile-tasting concoction. He said that if I took my medicine three times a day with my meals, I might have a better fighting chance. But I doubt that I will live for a few more weeks._

_I have lived through a dark and terrible time in history, full of deceit and hatred. But I survived into a time of contentedness, harmony, and peace. Now my son will live on after me, continuing my life's work. My only wish is that my story will not be forgotten…_


	25. His Family

My father was the scourge of the galaxy… Yet, I was named for the Jedi Master who preceded him: a man tormented between the bonds of his honour and his love, his oath and his passion. I am my father's son through and through. A question crossed my mind; I wondered if he would have loved me if he knew that I existed. A smile crept in the corner of my mouth. Yes, he would have.

Running my finger over the last line, I made myself swear that I would never forget her story for as long as there was breath still in me. A tear fell onto her spidery signature, threatening to blot it out.

At the back of the holo-journals was a link to a letter. Knowing what it would lead to, I touched it with the shaky tip of my finger. The letter was brief, asking how my mother was. I followed the letter's trail to Naboo, to the lake country. One day, I promised myself, I would visit it. I would meet my father face to face.

My hyperdrive computer beeped at me; we were now approaching the outer stratosphere of Coruscant. Jadis stirred at the noise, causing Jacen to wake.

"We're home, Jacen." Turning the controls back to manual, I carefully guided the _Trickster_ to the hangar bay of the New Pilot Academy, where all this began.

There, standing guard in the landing bay was Mara Jade. Once my cockpit was opened, she was in shock at the emergence of my face. "Anakin? Is that you?" In a very un-Mara Jade gesture, she gave me a fierce embrace; I could feel her sobbing against the cold of my armour.

"Mara, it's me. I'm home." Looking around, no one else was here. "Where's Luke? Where's Han and Leia? Where is everyone?"

"Anakin, everyone's home. Only Jacen's missing. He went on some kamikaze mission off to Tatooine. He said he was going to make things right. There has not been word of him for over a month now."

"No, Mara. Jacen's with me."

"What?" Without further explaining it, Jadis awkwardly climbed out of the ship, trying to hold on to Jacen. I rushed over to Jadis to support her while she stood.

"Oh my stars!" Mara ran up to my wife, helping Jacen to stand up. The blood from the sigils had bled through the bandages and his tunic. "Oh, Jacen. What did you do now?"

"He tried to throw a thermal detonator in front of Zorba the Hutt. I… disabled it," I told her the short version, showing her my wrapped up hand.

"Where are my senses?" Mara shook her head. "Come inside, before you get cold." Mara helped me support Jacen as he hobbled inside. Jadis walked at my side; she had covered herself in a white sleeveless top and sarong, to cover her rather scanty dancer regalia.

"Han! Jaina! Jacen's back!" Everyone came running at the sound of Mara's shout. Tears came to my eyes when I recognized everyone: Luke, Leia, Jaina and Ben. Han walked, for once, with restrained dignity; he broke down into a run when he saw Jacen, the blood seeping through his shirt.

"Anakin!" Jaina and Leia rammed into me, almost choking me with a strong embrace. Ben was not that far behind them, grabbing at my waist.

"Jacen, what happened?" Han and Luke took the burden off Mara and I. "Anakin, who's this?" Han nodded at Jadis, tiredly standing by the wall.

"Han, this is Jadis, my wife. Listen, I know I was wrong in boltin' off like that. Can you forgive me?" Without another word, Han and I embraced; for the first time in over ten years, I cried, letting out all the agony that dwelled my mind.

"Now, I would love an explanation more than the next person about what's going on." Han looked at Leia as she rebuked me silently for leaving her so long ago.

"And I would love to give you one, but it will be best to give them tomorrow when the four of us are rested."

"The four of us?" Leia looked at Jadis, or more specifically, at Jadis' swelling belly. "I see. Well, get off to bed. Nothing changed since the time you left, Anakin." With one last kiss, Leia let us go.

I took Jacen up to his room, laying him down on the bed for him to sleep. He looked like a fallen angel, his dark hair swept over his eyes as he slumbered off. Once he was settled, Jadis and I left for some time alone in my old quarters.

Like Leia had said, nothing had changed from when I had left. In the morning, I laid on my back as I gazed at the ceiling above me. Gently climbing out of bed so to not disturb Jadis' peaceful sleep, I rifled through my belongings for my weapons kits. Just like my mother had written in her memoirs, underneath the velvet padding was a false bottom. Flipping it up, I gazed for the first time at my father.

Anakin Skywalker, father of Luke and Leia Skywalker. My adoptive mother was my half-sister; fate had a twisted sense of humour. Besides the pictures, there were holograms of him; Mom must have taken pictures of him without his knowing. Staring at the pictures, my mother was right to give me his namesake; I looked just like him. I could almost feel confidence in his casual stance as he leaned against a wall in a different sketch.

I also found the hologram of a little girl that could only be A'Marie Skywalker, my half-sister. She had some of Anakin's looks: the sandy brown hair, the inquisitive blue stare, but she was untainted by the Force's dark side. If she was twelve when my mother rescued her twenty-four years ago, then she must be thirty-five years old by now. I wonder what she would be like.

Looking further into the hidden compartment, I found a single hologram of who could only be Starkiller, my father's one-time apprentice. He was trained to be ruthless, unmerciful, to be Sith. And yet, he was the founder of the Rebel Alliance. Maybe I could follow down his path as well, finding redemption in what I had done under Zorba.

Shaking away my errant thoughts, I walked down the hall, dressed in my familiar black tunic and pants, to the eating area. There, Han, Leia, Luke, and Mara Jade waited for me. Without a word, Leia pushed a mug of sour tea in front of me. In their eyes, they all wanted an explanation of what I had done for the last five years.

Without even a hello, I began. I told them everything since I arrived at Zorba's palace. Han cringed when he heard that name; Jacen's words about Han's carbonite prison came back to me. Leia made me peel off my tunic to show her the burns that the gauntlet-master had inflicted on me as part of my test; she started to rub in more ointment to them, soothing the everlasting itch they had created. I made my voice hollow when I described what I had done to Jacen, and what had occurred after my plea for freedom.

Leia wept silently into Han's shoulder as she heard what I had done to her son. Han had aged since last I saw him; the grey in his temple was now snow-white. He glared at me; the knuckles in his fist, the one that was placed just so on the table, were white.

"So what now, Anakin?" Luke stared straight at me, his anger apparent in his eyes and in the clenched fist on the table. "What are your plans? Who do you think will hire you, a bounty hunter who tortured his own foster brother for the sake of an oath?" His voice was barely staying even, the fury lapping at its edges.

"Get out." Han was quiet, for a moment. "Get out of my sight! I never wanna see your face around here again!" He jumped up from the table, his spittle raining down on me. His face was red with the utmost rage. How could I blame him? I did torture his blood-son for the sake of an oath. "Family always came above the job, Anakin! That was the rule! Why did you break it?!" He grabbed my tunic, tossing it into the corner. "Did I not teach you good enough to know that?"

Sighing, I pushed myself away from the table and away from Leia's worrying hands. I picked the tunic up from the corner and walked to the door. Just before I left, I paused. "What would you have done, Han?"

"What in the stars are you talking about?" Han lowered his fists ever so slightly.

Now it was my turn to be angry. "What would you have done,_ Han_?" I spat out that word with all the venom that it deserved. "If you had to choose between torturing your foster brother in order to live, or dying the most horrible death imaginable in front of the creature who had given you everything; what would you have done?!" Turning around, my anger finally burst from the dam of my self-reserve. My power flew out from my body, empowering all of the inanimate objects around me.

"Anakin, what do you mean?" Leia stood next to her husband, the tears falling from her eyes at my disownment.

"I was his slave! I had no choice!" Honestly, were they that dense? I pointed to the scar on the back of my neck where Jadis had removed my microchip. "Every one in Zorba's court has a chip in their neck. If they did something to displease them, that chip would activate and destroy your spinal cord millimetre by millimetre. You would paralyze and suffocate slowly before the entirety of the court. He loved it when I had to execute people that way; it gave him pleasure!"

I finally lost it. "My real father was even worse then me, Han! You must have known him: Anakin Skywalker ringing any bells? Or do you know him by Darth Vader, instead?" The look of utter horror on their faces gave me little pleasure. They finally knew: their once-adoptive son was in fact their half-brother by blood and by marriage.

"My father was Anakin Skywalker. My mother loved him and had me. I'm your half-brother, Leia, not your son! That man that I tortured was my nephew! Don't you dare think that I'm not tormented by that choice!"

My powers had come out of my control. Cutlery was banging against the table. The walls threatened to come undone from their bolts and fly out at my once-family. I lifted Luke up into the air and began to choke him, his fingers scrabbling at his slowly closing throat; it would have been so easy to stop his miserable life, one of the many banes of my childhood. "I even inherited my father's power, _brother! _Since mine is untrained, it is more dangerous than yours ever will be!" I spat my answer at Luke's shocked face.

By now, the burst of power had ceased and the kitchen was back in order. Luke fell to the floor, crawling away from me with horror in his eyes. I was panting now, but their faces reflected the atrocity of my tale. "So you tell me, Han. Do you choose to save your own life, or someone else's?" I was disgusted at their inaction; I turned through that door. That part of my life was over; I never should have come back.

"Anakin!" Jadis was clutching the door frame of my room. Blood splattered on her gown and on the floor. Screaming, she collapsed in the pool of her own blood.

"Help! Someone, help!" Now it was my turn to be terrified as I carried my wife into our room. I was afraid to help her in case my powers grew out of control again. Leia came rushing to my aid, taking over the whole operation. Within minutes, I was a father. Jadis was carrying twins, a healthy boy and girl.

Han stood in the doorframe. His anger began to dissipate but his eyes still shone hatred for me. He watched as his wife helped my own to recover from her ordeal. "This came for you. Apparently, the Hutt thought he owed you something after all." With that, he kicked a trunk towards me and left out of my life.

Curious, I opened the chest. There before my eyes was a fortune of gold coins and jewels. On top of it all was a note. Ironically, it was written in the same Huttese dialect that my gauntlet question was done in. The message was simple. "For everything. Expect more." Staring up at Jadis holding our two children, we made a decision together.

A week after my two children were born, Jadis and I moved our new family away from Coruscant and to the outskirts of the capital city of Naboo. This new planet was a paradise when compared to the desolate planet of Tatooine or the bustling noises and traffic of Coruscant. Naboo was so green, so vibrant, so full of life. I had never seen anything like this before; it was paradise. We decided to live in a townhouse in the Lake Country, a small isolated part of the outskirts bordering on crystal clear lakes and river systems.

Zorba's message held true. Every year, a chest filled with about two million worth of treasure arrived to our doorstep. Perhaps my five years of service meant something to Zorba after all. The annual treasure meant that Jadis and I did not have to work. To me, this meant only one thing: I could spend all the time that I wanted with my children and wife.

Sihad had inherited his father's blue eyes, but his mother's brown hair and complexion. My son always cropped his hair short, instead of tying it back off his face like me. He always wanted to hear stories of adventures and wars from across the galaxy. Sihad had become gifted with his hands, making little trinkets and wooden statues to decorate our house with.

He took the education that I supplied him with extremely seriously, absorbing everything that I taught him. Most of the time, he was an exuberant boy, wanting to fight or wrestle with the neighbourhood's children. However, when he was left alone long enough, he became silent and brooding, almost like me back during my times as Zorba's bounty hunter. During spring and summer, I often took Sihad out to train him to hunt. He became most accomplished, his aim coming close to mine in precision.

Andrea, however, was like her mother in all ways but her eyes. Mom lives on in the eyes of my daughter. Andrea has the same natural gracefulness that attracted me to Jadis. Everyway she walked, the neighbouring boys would be left with their jaws dropped and heart pounding in their chest. Even still, she never cared for them. In her own way, my daughter was more mature then the majority of her age-mates.

In her spare time, she would lock her door and dance in her room, flinging her knee-long braid of thick black hair in the rhythm with the steps that Jadis taught her everyday. It is my joy to buy my daughter little gifts, like a jewelled bracelet, or a small bouquet of flowers, or scented oils to rub in her skin, when it will make her look all the more beautiful when she danced.

Everyday, I woke up late in the day, to find that Jadis was sitting at her desk, either applying makeup to her face, or showing small tips to Andrea on how to make herself look more sensuous for her audiences. Sihad would come bounding into my room and onto my bed, bringing his latest carvings for my inspection. We ate casual meals out of the balcony; nothing was formal between any of us. We played endless amounts of games with each other. Jadis and I taught Sihad and Andrea all that we knew, so that one day they could pass it on to their children.

All of us swam at least ten hours every week. We would swim out to the island, and let ourselves dry on the sand. The old glazier hermit who lived on the island would come by, and we would buy a small something, like a coloured vase, or a clear animal figurine, to remind us of the fun time that we had had that day.

When afternoon would come around, I would sometimes carve wood with my knives with Sihad; afterwards, I would clean them the same way that my mother taught me how. Sometimes, I would take out Mom's old lightsaber and perform a small sword dance for my children, or perform some of the hand-to-hand combat moves that Mom had taught me, watching them gaze in awe at the prowess that I commanded over everything that I did.

Soon, other children within our neighbourhood wanted to learn how to fight like I did. Soon, a small school had started up. After school three times a week, I would teach the children basic self-defense moves for the rare times of danger. I enjoyed working with the children, because this was the next generation; they only wanted to learn because they were bored, not because we were in the middle of the war.

Finally, I decided to pass on the legend on my mom's life and my own to my children. I brought out my mom's memoirs, now tattered and stained from my constant reading in Zorba's palace. My children and even my wife were astounded at what my mom had gone through in her long life. They already knew a small portion of my story, but they were amazed that they had such an amazing heritage.

I did not tell my children who my father was. Instead, I kept the pictures that my mother had drawn so long ago in the table by my bed with my lightsaber. It served as a constant reminder of the past, and the effect it has on the future. The man my father, Anakin Skywalker, was, I strove to become in my daily living.

Five years after I moved to Naboo, I made a pilgrimage to an isolated villa further into the Lake Country. I told Jadis that I just needed some time to gather new skills, having been so out of touch with my weapons since coming to Naboo. I found the place that I thought, and knocked on the door.

A woman opened the door; with wide eyes, she ran into the house and looked up the stairs as if she was yelling something. I almost heard a cry of _Father_ through the Force. My mind jolted: this must have been A'Marie, my half-sister in the flesh.

Someone walking down the stairs jolted my attention. I knew that it was my father before he saw me for the first time. He had not aged in the slightest in the thirty years since the fall of the Empire. When he did see me, he smiled. "I knew that you would find me one day, Anakin." A'Marie looked from him to me, her eyes growing wide with delight.

"Father." That single word caught in my throat as we embraced. Tears came down my eyes as I wept into the shoulder of my father, the man so long absent from my life. The two months that I spent with him and A'Marie honing my skills and learning how to use my mother's lightsaber were the best times of my life, beside my family, and I would share them with nobody else.

There are some times, when I think of what my mother would think of some of the choices I have made in my life. I started out as the surrogate son of a smuggler, to becoming a bounty hunter and protector of a ruthless crime lord, to settling down into the role of devoted father and husband. I do not think that she would be proud of some of my choices, but it is my life to live, and if I have messed up, I will somehow make it right in the end.

**Anakin Skywalker Organa****  
Son of Suri Organa and Anakin Skywalker****  
Husband of Jadis Gelana  
Father of Sihad and Andrea Organa  
Former Protector and Bounty Hunter of Zorba the Hutt**


End file.
